


Legend of the Knights

by RoseyCheeks



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No Sburb Session, Fantasy, Multi, Work In Progress, davekat - Freeform, more to be added - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-28
Updated: 2014-01-21
Packaged: 2017-12-09 18:58:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 35,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/776892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseyCheeks/pseuds/RoseyCheeks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karkat is a troll, a mutant to be exact. Before the war, there was a use for mutants like him. But now that the war with the humans are long over, mutants have once again become a liability to the Queen. So he is thrown across the Border which connects between the two countries (Prospit and Derse). It is dangerous since humans and trolls alike still feel anger and hatred towards one another. Karkat can only hope that no human finds him, but of course with his luck, he gets the most annoying human of them all and worse of all he may develop feelings for this idiotic human!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Karkat Meet with a Strange Human

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy this fic. I need to try to make my action scenes better -_-'. Anyways creative criticism is appreciated. :)

Chapter 1: Karkat meet with a strange human

Lonely and forgotten, those were the best words to describe the troll that is Karkat Vantas. All his life, he was thrown away or avoided because of his mutation, thanks to the trollian government of keeping tabs on all newborn trolls. But it only got worse by the time he reached his ninth sweep, when his lusus had to abandon him because he was “old enough” to take care of himself in society. At that time, the trolls exiled him, forbidding him from ever coming back; even though supposedly during the war, the trolls were practically a unified race. But, now, after the war, he is considered a liability and a traitor. So he was thrown across the Trollian-Human Border.

Before establishing the border, the two species have been warring for centuries. They established the border at the end of the war. The war was known as the War of the Dead because of the severity and violence of the war. No village was left unscarred, no human or troll left physically intact. It became so bad that the humans had to set the drafting age to sixteen and the trolls used mutants and lusi in their battles. Everything was put aside for the war, in a sick, senseless way, it united the small groups within the species. For example, the hemospectrum wasn’t as enforced as before because all the trolls, children and adults alike had a common enemy. It was basically the same for the humans, there was few if any prejudice. However as time wore on, both species were depleting prospective soldiers, supplies, and weapons much, much too quickly. So a truce between the Condesce and the Human leader was established. This was when they drew the border and made it official. No human will cross to the troll’s established land, and no troll will cross to the human’s established land. If any were to break these rules, the perpetrators would be liable to death.

To Alternians and Humans, this was a popular form of execution, not only would the criminal be shamed and tortured, but they would be ripped limb from limb by the enemy, if they were found. The tension between trolls and humans have not dissipated, in fact, it may have gotten worse because of the number of special "executions" that go on between the two species. If Karkat tries to cross the border back to his prospective side, he will be culled where he stands, but with twice the amount of torture of a regular criminal. But even so Karkat wanted to go back to the trolls because Alternia was where he belonged (even if all the trolls were douchebags, they were still trolls). Even if he had the most influential trolls on his side, it would mean nothing, he would never be able to return to his homeland. Sure he had some internet friends that may or may not be upstanding citizens, but that’s just what they are, web friends who didn’t even know what he looks like, much less his little “secret” (not that it was or is ever much of a secret). What are they going to do? All they have is the internet, and every troll knows that they can’t fight back with the fucking internet!

The worst part is instead of doing the right thing for this planet, Karkat fights for survival. He can’t help it, even if he hates himself, he doesn’t want to die. It’s incredibly selfish and somewhat ironic. What is he fighting for? Who is he fighting for? He doesn’t even know and yet, he continues walking into the unknown, hiding when the sun is up and traveling by night. It seems very few humans dare to come close to the border (thankfully most humans are smart enough to avoid the border for fear of being mistaken as an enemy), but it didn’t mean Karkat is any less careful.

For food, he picks berries and edible plants. He did try to attack the younger woodland creatures, however, they are much too fast for him. Besides, the trolls confiscated all his weapons before throwing him out. Those assholes didn’t even give him a weapon, not even his shitty sickles, to defend himself. He uses his claws and teeth to fight, but they do him no good, since they’re so nubby.

As Karkat continues to move forward though, he begins to realize how useful his weapons truly were. The land is beginning to flatten out into long dunes of sand. It will be hard to find food or even shelter in that area, but it also means that there will be little to no humans along those areas (maybe if Karkat is lucky, he can live out the rest of his life as a hermit, a lonely but peaceful existence). Not that there are much humans on the path he is currently on, but there are a lot more hunters in the more forested-area. Before going forward, however, he needs to store food since he will not be able to survive on only berries and plants.

The next few days, he once again tries to catch some animals, with no luck. He decides to set up traps, only to find they aren’t as effective as he wants. They always find some way to eat the bait AND escape the trap. He even tries fishing, but his bait is no good, his rod snaps as soon as there is a strong enough tug, and there’s nothing resembling string to use other than his shredded clothing (which he uses, but fails as well). The young troll throws his fishing rod down in disgust and promptly begins to curl up in on himself.

****

“It’s no fucking use...” He wants to cry, but he will not give in, if he does then it’s like giving in to his whole existence.

****

Bringing his knees closer, he places his head on the worn, black jeans. He notices his reflection in the river. Karkat has become thinner and more angled. He feels and looks like a completely different troll than a few weeks ago. He daydreams of his hive. Sure, the hive was pretty shitty and the roof had several places that leaked when it rained, but it was home, a comforting, warm place. Karkat is so lost within his memory of home that he didn’t notice the looming figure, until Karkat saw the shadow of the figure. He jumps and quickly takes a defensive position. He didn’t come so far only to be culled. Karkat will fight to his last breath, if that’s what it takes.

It is a boy who looks about the same age as him. He has short, almost white hair and is adorned with a black pair of aviators, which only served to make the boy seem more like an enemy. It hides his eyes, one of the forms of expression that helps Karkat determine whether one is dangerous or trustworthy. In his head, Karkat lists all the advantages the other has: he is taller in build, wearing some sort of light armor, has a sword attached to his hip, and worst of all he is human, meaning there will be no mercy. Not that there will be mercy from a troll, but at least he will know what to expect and how to attack. He’s heard many stories about the many different weapons and horrors of the human so he isn’t sure what to expect from the boy standing in front of him. Or at least he thinks the squishy being is male, it could be female for all he knows about humans, but he’d rather not go there.

The boy (fuck genders, to Karkat, the human looks like a boy so he will be a boy) holds up his hands in a sort of peace motion. The boy may seem relaxed to the average troll, but Karkat knows that in a moments notice the boy can whip out his sword and slash. Karkat has been protecting himself long enough to know whom he needs to be wary of.

****

“Look, I won’t attack you as long as you don’t attack me. Fuck, I just realized, you probably don’t understand english. Shit, you probably speak in those strange alien languages that consists of a lot of growls and animalistic sounds, even though you are supposedly smarter than us and have stronger weapons. Which is stupid, because wouldn’t it make sense if you guys be able to speak our language if you guys are so ‘technologically superior’?” The boy in the glasses proceeds to shake his head and begin to make horrible sounds out of his throat. Is he trying to speak Alternian? That asshole is messing up your beautiful language as if you’ll sit by and allow him to do this to you, thought Karkat angrily.

****

“Shut the fuck up! That is the worst interpretation of our language, I’ve ever heard!” He stops mid-sound and just stares at the troll. Karkat feels some gratitude towards Crabdad for forcing him to learn a few human languages, maybe Crabdad knew that Karkat would end up in human territory, not that it’ll help much if the humans really wanted to kill him.

****

“You can understand me, more importantly you can speak my language!” He is surprised, but still cautious. Karkat thinks the speech earlier was just to alleviate his nervousness around him or catch him off guard or something, but Karkat will not allow himself to be distracted so easily.

****

Karkat growls and gets ready to attack him. The boy's hand is on the hilt of his sword as soon as the sound hits his ears, and he takes a defensive stance.

****

“Look, you do not want a piece of this. I will slice you with no mercy. I’ll be like one of those knights in shining armor who needs to kill a dragon to save the princess. Though, I guess in our case, we have no princess, but I guess we can improvise, maybe that tree behind you. Oh fair tree, don’t worry I’ll save you from the fearsome troll.”

****

“Don’t you ever shut up! Shouldn’t you be scared out of your pants to see your mortal enemy snarling and glaring at you! I’m surprised you haven’t run away like a bark beast with its tail between its legs! Or wouldn’t it be smarter to kill your enemy right away so he wouldn’t have the ability to retaliate against you!” The little troll feels so agitated that he allows himself one ticket of word-vomit before continuing his growling.

****

“Well, I’m not a normal human, I don’t feel fear towards you, especially with those unthreatening horns and your short stature. Besides that, I can guarantee I will be faster than you and if all else fails, I have a sword which is longer range than your claws. Unless, you’re like one of those assassins who hides his weapons in the strangest places like in their shirt or boots. But even then, the weapon would still be smaller than my weapon.”

****

“If you think you’re so great, why didn’t you kill me, when I had my guard down, human!”

****

“Well, it’s not my style to attack someone or in this case some troll unarmed.” The troll gapes at him like that statement is the stupidest thing he’s ever heard.

****

“That’ll get you fucking killed! You’re a fucktard. I wouldn’t have so much as shown you mercy. It’s survival of the fucking fittest. Are you humans so stupid that you don’t even read your own damn books on evolution and the like!”

****

“Fuck, I didn’t think I’d find a talkative and educated troll in my journey. Damn, this is a new high for me. Give me a few seconds to come down before you attack and rip out my throat.”

****

He must be really confident in his abilities because he takes a step closer to Karkat. The snarling won’t stop, but Karkat isn’t making a move, only moving around the strange human. From the conversations, he’s had with the human, he’s noticed that the human in shades will not attack unless provoked. Karkat thinks he should feel fortunate to have an opponent that will not attack him at the first opportunity, but all he feels is hatred for such a dumb creature. Karkat keeps moving around the human until they are in the opposite spots from when they first meet. Humans must get stupider as time passes because the boy turns his back to him and sits down. This is the most opportune moment to either attack the idiot or run as fast as his legs will carry him. But he does neither as a delicious odor drifts and reaches his sensitive nose.

Karkat must be just as stupid as the alien because he doesn’t take the smartest plan and insteads walk closer to the human with his claws at his side. Curiosity killed the meow beast and yet like the dumb beast he walks closer to his death. The human turns around suddenly and Karkat jumps back with his claws out again. How did the boy even know that the troll was behind him? Karkat was pretty sure he had sneaked up behind him, making little if no noise. The troll made a mental note to not underestimate the stranger in front of him.

****

“Woah, woah! I was just going to offer you some of this delicious jerky. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare away Sir Nubby Horns. Come back, so we can harvest the strange forbidden fruit that is the friendship between a troll and a human.” He must be joking. There is no way this crazy moron is seriously trying to start a pale relationship with him. Fuck, he heard the humans were all pale sluts, but this was seriously pushing it.

****

“The fuck! We just met and you’re asking me to become your fucking moirial! I mean aren’t you afraid I’d rip out your throat in your sleep and then eat your insides with my sharp teeth simply to satisfy my carnivorous desires! Okay, that’s a little crazy even for trolls, but still. You don’t know, I could be a fucking psychotic high-blood!”

****

“If you were going to kill me, you would have done that before all of these charming conversations. Besides, once again I would like to stress the fact that you can’t kill me.”

****

“What makes you so fucking sure?”

****

“Look, I already told you, I’m not some kind of record stuck on replay. I don’t do repeat. Now back to the main point, do you want jerky or not?”

****

In his hunger daze, completely against his will, he nods. Fuck no. He smacks himself and walks back a few steps. No, he’s not pathetic enough to take food from an enemy, even if the enemy is making pale invitations at him. At any moment this human can turn on him like all the other trolls and then he would have to deal with the same betrayal and maybe, his own, inevitable death. But, wouldn’t that be better? At least he will not have to fight anymore and no one will really miss a mutant like him.

****

“Woah, a bit bipolar aren’t we? You didn’t have to act so violently to my offer. I mean it’s not like it’s poisoned or anything. I mean if it was, wouldn’t I be dead? Not that I could die from such a measly thing as poison, but yeah.”

****

“I will not accept food from an enemy.” Karkat replies simply, but his facade is quickly destroyed by his digestive sac growling.

****

“That’s not what your body is saying! It’s sending a message and I’m hearing it loud and clear. It’s telling me the poor alien has been abusing it and as a knight in shining armor, I must feed it.” He stands up and walks toward the troll. The troll takes an offensive stance. The human waggles his finger at the little troll. “Now, now, we maybe troll and human, but since I don’t sense any impending doom, I’m willing to share a bit of my sustenance with you. So that is not the correct way to show your gratitude, and if this continues, I will rescind my request.”

****

“Then do it! I won’t eat anything from you...” Karkat winces at his weak argument, but continues to stare the human down. The human shrugs and sits down again.

****

“Suit yourself, Mr. Strangely Stubborn Alien. The only reason I can think of where you would cross the border is if you were thrown out. Either that or you want to be killed. I doubt that because of the first reaction you had towards me. Besides there are much more stylish ways to do so than by a human’s hands. Not that I would support throwing your life away, you know what they say, you only got one fucking life so you better spend the time damn well.” The boy laughs as if what he just said was the funniest thing in the world. “Oh I just realized I never asked for your name. How rude of me.” He looks at the alien boy expectantly, all he received was a growl. The boy sighed and turned back towards the river. “I should have known you weren’t going to give me the benefit of the doubt.”

****

“I’m not going to tell my fucking name to a stranger, especially one that will cut my throat at a seconds notice and feel no remorse. And stop giving me those damn nicknames!”

****

“Well, Mr. Grumpy Pants, if you want me to stop, then you’ll either have to give me a name. I mean I could understand why you’d be all like no way man, what with the tension between our two species. I mean of all the trolls I’ve met, you are the only one who didn’t attack me right away. Either you have a brain in that head of yours or you’re afraid.”

****

Anger overwhelms the short troll (being called a coward is almost as bad as being called a mutant on Alternia, and Karkat didn't need another fucking degrading label placed upon his name). Blinded by that anger, the troll boy approaches the human boy with alarming speed. But before the troll could even get close to the human boy, the boy flash stepped and disappeared. The troll stops and tenses. He heard the boy move behind him, so swung to face the boy.

****

“I’ll give you, for reflexes, but dude, no need to get so angry. Unless what I said was true.”

****

One part of Karkat screamed at himself, no, no, don’t attack the human now, you’re too slow and not close enough to inflict any real damage. Karkat realizes that he only has one chance and that is the element of surprise. His eyes dart back and forth for something to use as his advantage all the while keeping an eye on the shades-wearing individual. The boy seems to watch the troll just as intently. Slowly, the troll backs up, while the boy stays rooted to the spot. As fast as the troll could, the troll picks up the broken rod and throws himself into the nearby bushes. The boy cusses as he takes a defensive stance. The boy doesn’t want to approach the spot for fear of a trap, so he uses his other senses to find where the troll went. He could hear slight rustling, carefully the boy turns his head to the direction of the sound and brings his weapon forward. He didn’t expect a flying fish rod to come at his head. The boy expected the troll to jump him with a weapon. In those few moments, the boy lost his focus and the troll threw his body forward and tackled the disoriented blond. The blond’s sword goes flying and the troll wraps his fingers around the boy’s neck. The boy stared up at the troll, but in his eyes there was no fear of imminent death. The boy waits for the end, the inevitable snap of bone. It never came.

****

Karkat stares at the boy’s red eyes, the same red his is. Of all the stories Karkat has heard, he has never heard of a human with red eyes. He hesitates, this boy is a mutant like him. And then he notices the small symbol below the human’s eyes.

 

  
“The fuck is that.” Karkat reaches up to touch it. Karkat feels a searing pain on his right wrist, he feels himself screaming before collapsing. The last thought he has is whether or not he is going to wake up again. If he does manage to not be killed in this state, then he hopes to never see this blonde guy again.


	2. Karkat Wake Up and Make Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exactly as the title says, except there will be another friend who will be joining them on the adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go, a chapter full of dialogue and exposition.

 

    It feels warm and nice, Karkat thought, like he is back in his hive. Any minute now, Crabdad was going to come bursting in and wake him up from his nap. But wait, this doesn’t feel like sopor slime, it feels like some sort of clothe. Karkat struggled a little bit before throwing off the offending material. He rubs the sleep out of his eyes and looks around. It was a lot darker than before. It hits him that he was abandoned by troll society, and he’s still in the same place as the human. The boy sits around a little fire and seems to be roasting some sort of animal. Quickly, Karkat stands up and searches for a weapon. The human turns, before Karkat has a chance to find anything acceptable.

 

“Well, looks like Sleeping Beauty just woke up. Mr. Alien, I was just cooking dinner, wanna join me?” The boy motions for Karkat to join him.

 

“I tried to kill you. I tried to fucking kill you and not only do you not kill me, but you protect me while I was out and you cook me food. Did you stand out in the sun too long and let it burn your brain!!” Karkat shakes with frustration, what is with this crazy human, no troll was ever this complicated, not even the trolls on the internet.

 

“But you didn’t. You had the chance. I was practically groveling beneath your all powerful claws and all you had to do was press and I would’ve been gone. ‘Sides I told you, I don’t do the backstabbing thing, tried it once, it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.” The boy solemnly stares at the bonfire and turned the animal to the uncooked side. The aroma makes Karkat’s mouth water and his stomach growl. Maybe, maybe he should give this human the benefit of the doubt, but not yet. Not until he figures out the why the boy has that strange tattoo.

 

“Fine, I will accept your invitation of food, but only to satisfy my digestive sack. I will not accept any of the pale advances you insist on pushing forward. However, tell me this human, why is the symbol of time on you face?” The boy has his back to Karkat, but Karkat could see the human visibly tense.

 

“Well, why do you have the symbol of blood on your right wrist?”

 

“What the fu-” Karkat stares at the small, candy red line. It looks like a recent cut that was still dripping blood. “How the hell should I know? I only got this thing after I met you!” Karkat remembers how much it hurt and shudders.

 

“So you’ve never heard of the Skaia Legend?”

 

“The hell is that?”

 

“Well, I’m glad you asked, now I have the excuse to invite you over here and sit on this log so that we could be like little camp boys who tell each other horror stories to see who could scare the other one better. Except instead of little boys, we have a troll and we’re telling a grand legend.” But before the human can continue, a tiny, teal light sprung forth from his armor.

 

“Dave! Let me tell the story!” It seems like some kind of small female-like fairy. Karkat had heard that the Human-Trollian border was smack dab in the middle of some kind of thing called the Fantasy Dream Bubble, but this, this is madness.

 

“The hell, where did you come from?” She puffs out her cheeks.

 

“Rude. For your info, I was out looking for food when Dave found you. You were all conked out and it was funny to see you drool on yourself. You'll know soon enough what I'm doing here." She cackled before turning towards the human. "Anyways, Dave let me tell it. I’ll make it dramatic and cool!” It is unnerving how the fairy knew exactly what Karkat wanted to know.

 

“No, Rezi. This is my unsuspecting troll.” He points at Karkat.

 

“Oh, so it’s a troll, not that I didn’t already know that.” The little light flutters closer to Karkat and stops right at his nose. She had long, black dress, that had the symbol of a libra. She wore red-tinted glasses. He also notices that her wings look like those of a dragon’s. She smiles a shit-eating grin, before licking Karkat’s nose. Karkat makes an indignant snort and tries to smack her, but she flies away. “Dave! You found one of the elements. Congrats.” Karkat dons a mask of confusion.

 

The human, whom Karkat now assumes is called Dave, turns and beckons Karkat over. When Karkat doesn’t move, Dave waves a piece of meat at him. Karkat growls, cursing his inability to ignore the aromatic meat. Karkat tries to sit as far away from Dave as he can get and still reach for food, which he devours promptly.

 

“Damn, Rezi, the poor alien must have been starving. Good thing I found him in time and give him a good meal like the generous human that I am.” The little fairy laughs and settles on Dave’s shoulder.

 

“If you had to suffer through only plants and berries, you would probably do the same fucking thing. In fact, a gross being like you wouldn't have been able to hold back your desire to devour delicious meat as long as I have.” Dave shrugs and continues eating his meal. After Karkat finishes, he looks at the human and repeats the question from before. “Why do you have the mark of time?”

 

“Dave, please let me tell this! I’ve been wanting to do so!” Terezi mock pleads.

 

“Rezi, this is my story to spoil! I’m the one who should be giving the exposition since it happened to me.” The little fairy looks like she’s pouting, but from where Karkat’s sitting, it’s exceedingly difficult to tell.

 

“Fine, but I get to help.” Dave gently rubs her head.

 

“Yeah whatever.”

 

“Are you guys going to sit there and act like a bunch of idiots or are you going to stop putting your damn foot in your mouth and get on with the story.”

 

“We’ve an impatient one. Just for that, we’re going to make you wait double the time, while I continue acting kindly toward my companion, who you may or may not be jealous of.”

 

“I don’t even fucking know you. Why would I be jealous of some stupid fairy?” The fairy flies over and promptly smacks Karkat. But because she was so tiny, it didn’t really have the desired effect.

 

“Mr. Grumpy-Pants, don’t be rude. I may be blind, but I assure you I am one hundred percent positive, I am not stupid. How dare you imply such? Also, I’m not a damn fairy, I’m a dragon fairy, a much cooler and more powerful race. Don’t mistake me for one of those other weak lights that fly around granting people’s wishes without thinking of the consequences.”

 

“Shit, sorry, I didn’t know you were visually impaired. I mean with the way you float around, it’s like you can see. But you still look like a fairy albeit a blind one.” The dragon fairy laughs.

 

“Dave, the troll seems to be very blunt and honest, even if he is a bit coarse and unrefined. Of course, he lacks the same amount of cool you have, but I think he’ll be a good addition to our little posse.” Once again she laughs shrilly at Karkat before fluttering to Dave’s shoulder. Karkat rolls his eyes and grumbles.

 

“After that useless detour, can we get back to the topic at hand which is why the human has that tattoo?”

 

“ ‘K, but only after we know your name, unless you want us to be addressing you by our own creative nicknames. I would like to direct you to our fabulous selection: Nubby-Horns, Shorty McShort Shorts, Crabby, Mr. Troll, Mr. Grumpy-Pants, Mr. I-Hate-Everything...”

 

“Shut the fuck up! Goddamn it! Are all humans this stupid and annoying?”

 

“No, I just enjoy watching you rage.”

 

“Creepy much?”

 

“Name.” Dave commanded.

 

“You first!”

 

“No. You.”

 

“Females, first!” The troll yelled.

 

“Touche.”

 

“Fine, both of you assholes shut up!” The little fairy yelled at the two males. “My name is Terezi Pyrope! There is that so hard?”

 

“Karkat Vantas...” Karkat grumbles.

 

“The name’s Dave, Dave Strider. Now that the introductions are out of the way, let’s finally get this long, ass story out of the way, since you’ll be coming with us for the duration of our journey.”

 

“I’ll be what?! Who said I was going to do something so mind-numbingly pathetic and dumb?”

 

“Just listen to Dave will you? That’s the part he’s getting to. God, if we’re going to be stuck with you, you better learn to let others explain themselves.”

 

“Fine, fine, I’ll shut my trap. These lips will be sealed, they’ll be sealed so tightly that not even the strongest troll in Alternia will be able to pry open these lips. Humans and trolls alike will marvel at how tight these lips will be sealed, and I will forever go down into history as the famous silent troll.”

 

“Less talk-y, more seal-y.” Instructs the tiny fairy. Karkat rolls his eyes.

 

“Now that we finally have some peace and quiet I will start my tale of misery, adventure, and death. You see, I’ve been seventeen for a very long time.”

 

“How long have you been seventeen?” Terezi mused.

 

“A long time, my little friend, a damn long time.” Karkat glares at the both of them. “Geez, tough crowd. Anyways, well, during that time the war was still raging on.” Karkat couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

 

“That war ended like a hundred years ago!”

 

“Well, duh, thank you Captain Obvious. Thanks for stating something so blatantly obvious that every creature, human, and troll know. Thank you for your fabulous input.” Karkat ground his teeth together and resisted the impulse to strangle the blond. “Anyways, during the war I made a terrible mistake and was accidently became an immortal because I made a deal with the higher ups. Now what exactly did I make a deal for, is my secret and I’m not going to tell you so don’t bother asking.”

 

“Like I care, why you made a fucking deal. Just tell me what role I play in all this.” Karkat has his arms crossed and foot tapping.

 

“Can you just shut up for a bit, maybe hold your breath for a couple of seconds and stop being an impatient child.” Terezi threw her tiny hands up in frustration.

 

“Yes, listen to the teal colored dragon.” Terezi grinned at Dave. “When I realized that being immortal is not all that cracked up to be. I once again went back to those higher spirits and asked for something to change my shitty life. Being the generous douchebags that they are, I was given the job of going on this long ass quest to find the elements and keep them safe. You see these elements are to be gathered at the Altar of the Spirits every thousands of years and will be milked of their powers to make an elixir that is said to be incredibly delicious only to the spirits. And apparently, I’m one of those elements, so why not ask me to do all the dirty work. Also, the spirits told me that if we don’t give them the elixir on April 13th, apparently not only will all of the elements die, except for me, but also calamity will befall our planet. A great example of this would be the war that happened oh so many years ago.”

 

“What the hell are you talking about? The war started because humans and trolls were xenophobic.” Dave placed a finger upon the troll’s lips.

 

 

“Shoosh, child. All will be explained.” Karkat smacks the finger away and growls.

 

“Damn, that’s a feisty child. Anyways, as I was saying, you see a long time ago, trolls and humans use to get along. In fact they built their empires together. Trolls could be in Prospit and humans could be in Derse. Even then, there was still this ritual every thousands of years honored by trolls and humans alike. And the last journey that the trolls and humans went on, ended in disaster. Neither side wanted to blame their own species for the failure so they blamed each other. Afterwards that was the cause of the Dry Drought and Hundred Day Rain. Tensions between the nations grew and that tension grew to become the war.”

 

“Let me get this straight, war is not started by growing political and economic interests, it starts because the motherfucking Gods and Goddesses couldn’t get fucking food for the day.”

 

“Look, smarty pants. One, I didn’t say there was never any growing political and economic interests. Two, these are angry spirits, a bit different from the average deity. And three, this is my motherfucking story so where do you get off questioning my logic?” Karkat threw up his hands in frustration and exasperation.

 

“I don’t fucking care anymore, just continue with your stupid story.”

 

“That’s a good troll. Back to the point, I had no idea where to start or what to do so the world was going to be doomed, if...” Terezi put her tiny hand on Dave’s mouth before he could say anything.

 

“My turn. This is where I the beautiful and strong, Terezi come in. You see I’m not only a special dragon fairy who is one of the twelve elements, Dave has to collect, but I’m a seer. Once every two-hundred years in my species is born a blind seer who could see into the future. I am one such seer. I saw that I was suppose to help this human, Dave, so on his second time to the temple, I offered my services to him. I was also the one who led him to you because I knew you were going to be here as one of the elements.” Terezi smiled her characteristic grin.

 

“And that’s it, I’m just suppose to now trust everything you guys say and give up my entire life just to follow you on some kind of quest so my ‘powers’ can be sucked out of my body to make a delicious drink and offer it up to these 'spirits'. Well fuck them, I never liked this planet anyway, what with all the jackasses and douchebags stinking up the air.” Karkat flipped both of them off before getting up and walking away, but he didn’t get far before Dave tackled him to the ground.

 

“No way, it took us this long just to find one fucking element, you are coming with us whether you want to or not.”

 

“GET OFF OF ME!!!” Karkat screamed kicking and pushing, but to no avail. Karkat makes a note mentally to practice strifing again.

 

“Nope, sorry, hon, but I got a major quest to complete and you’re one of the poor saps coming along for the ride.”

 

“Besides it’s not like you have anything to go back to or anywhere to go.” Terezi added. Karkat glared at the girl, but continued to move against Dave.

 

“Damn it. Just stay still.” Dave reaches for his cape and tries to tie Karkat down. Karkat starts biting it and trying to tear it apart.

 

“Stop man! That cape is expensive! Argh!” The boys continue struggling. Terezi shakes her head and grins at them. Eventually, the boy is able to get the troll into a headlock.

 

“You’re coming with us whether you like it or not! Like Rezi said, you don’t have friends, a home, or a destination. You’re better off with us!”

 

“Fuck both of you.”

 

“Only if you buy me dinner.” Terezi had the audacity to actually wink at Karkat and blow a kiss.

 

“What the fuck!?”

 

“Rezi, we're not going to hit first base with this guy. It wouldn't work out. I see a heart-breaker in this one." Terezi laughs.

 

“Human, Let go! I hope you die painfully and slowly.” Karkat is seething and continues to gnaw the cape.

 

“Come with us, join the dark side, we have delicious meat.”

 

    Karkat thought about it for a moment. They were right, he had no place to go or any friends to turn to. Besides, he reasons, wouldn’t it be safer to travel with these two, rather than by your lonesome? But wait don’t you hate this planet and it’s inhabitants, including yourself. Even though he hates everyone, deep down he doesn’t want to wish death upon everyone, just a very select group of assholes. He sighs. If he doesn’t go with these two lunatics, Karkat feels like he’ll miss his one chance to truly live that and he’ll probably die in the most painful way possible. Furthermore, they have food and blankets. Karkat is a troll who lived most of his life provided for and safe (thanks to Crabdad), despite the discriminations, so survival isn’t exactly second nature to the troll.

 

“Goddamn you and your delicious food! Fine, I’ll come if you let go off my head!”

 

“I let go off your head if you let go off my cape!” The two continue with their argument, until once again the fairy sighs and intervenes.

 

“You guys can both let go on the count of three: one, two three!” Karkat and Dave let go off each other. Without the support of Dave, Karkat falls ungracefully. Terezi shakes her head and sighs.

 

“This is going to be a long journey.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed. Constructive criticism is appreciated, and I will probably update weekly (emphasis on the probably). Also trying hard to write Terezi's character and failing. :)


	3. Karkat and Gang Finally Set Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Discussion of powers and finally deciding on a place to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for all the dialogue. I think I just really enjoy making characters talk.

 

        After a night of bickering, the trio decides to plan in advance. Dave brings out a new map of Prospit and Derse. Dave points to a mountainous region claiming that traveling towards the Spider Mountain would be the best course of action, while Terezi points to a spot exactly opposite of Dave’s, the Sea. As the two begin to playfully argue, Karkat is lost in his own thoughts. Karkat sighed, what the fuck was he going to do? How is he going to travel into human land without being tortured then culled? There was no way some troll as suspicious as Karkat is going to go through villages unnoticed, unless the journey that he is forced into going avoids all civilizations. With his luck, Karkat doubts it will be that simple. Karkat decides now is a good a time as any to voice his concerns, since Terezi and Dave have elapsed into calling each other silly names.

 

“Human and dragon fairy, we have more concerning matters. If you use your think pans for a couple of minutes, you might notice that I am a troll and I am in human territory. Now if you put two and two together, you get a culled troll. Since I’m supposed to be some important ingredient for some angry spirits, let’s not be culled at the beginning of the fucking journey. And did I forget to mention the important detail that I have NO fucking weapons! So even if you were by some miracle able to blend me in with the crowd, I would still be as defenseless as a wriggler. If this is as grand an adventure as you give the impression it would be, then wouldn’t it be most beneficial to not have to protect me. Rather have me as a fucking valuable asset to the team rather than dead ass weight?” Terezi raises her finger at him.

 

“Now, now, Karkles, we have names and I would appreciate if you use it. Next issue, politeness, was it not taught to you? Most importantly, you’re giving me a migraine from your incessant complaining. Please kindly shut your ‘load gaper’, while I think of some solutions after we decide where we go next. ”

 

“I’m not going anywhere, until I feel able to defend my damn self.” He glares at the teal light and the shades wearing human. The human shrugs.

 

“Rezi, maybe, it’s a good idea to help out the noisy troll that way we can have some peace and quiet to argue mundanely about our future plans.”

 

“Fine.” She stresses the ending to sound whiny. Terezi glides gracefully towards the troll. “Hold out your hands.” Karkat does as instructed and Terezi sits gently onto his palm.

 

        The fairy seems to be in deep concentration and has her hands held out in front of her. The light around her seemed to congregate towards her tiny hands. To Karkat, it looks like the light was solidifying to become some sort of crystal. Terezi gives a little sigh of exhaustion and the little gem drops onto Karkat’s palm. The gem was a bright reddish color; the color of his blood.

 

“What the fuck am I suppose to with this,” Karkat thought aloud.

 

“The crystal allows you to switch between troll and human. It puts up a kind of illusion to trick the mind. Kind of like a disguising cloak, but it only works if it’s somewhere close to your body. All you have to do is think about transforming and it will happen. The crystal is specific to you so it will seem like an ordinary gem to anyone else.” Terezi explains.

 

        He glares at the little gem hoping his eyes would suddenly possess the power to destroy all things pertaining to his blood color. Karkat’s attention is pulled away, when he notices the fairy slumping against his fingers wheezing.

 

“Oh fuck! Are you alright?” She dismissively waves.

 

“I’m fine, just a little tired. It takes a lot out of me to externalize my magic into a pure, solid form.” Terezi tries to stand up but just falls back on to Karkat’s palm. She sighs. “Karkles, will you put me on your shoulder?” Karkat raises his eyebrows at the fairy.

 

“Why? I thought you were the human’s fairy.” Jabbing her finger into Karkat’s thumb, she huffs.

 

“Well, I don’t have the energy to fly over to Dave. That and I'm not a damn fairy, I'm a dragon fairy. Besides your sweater looks soft enough to sleep in, even if it looks like you never wash it. ” Her eyes were half-lidded and she yawns softly.

 

“Fuck you, this is my favorite sweater.” He grumbles a bit longer, but raises his hand up to his shoulder, where she settles. Dave looks between the two of them and ever so slightly smirks.

 

“Rezi, you’re killing me over here, I thought I was your best friend. Are these shoulders no longer soft enough to your liking? Would you like me to put some feathers here or maybe I’ll put some water so you could have a waterbed on my shoulder. How’s that sound? It’ll be like a 2-person party plus Karky.” Terezi smiles but stays put.

 

“As great as that sounds, cool kid, I’m too tired to fly all the way over there. Besides your shoulders are bony and pointy and Karkles’ shoulders are soft and warm.” As if to prove her point she snuggles deeper into the expanse that is Karkat’s sweater. Karkat just rolls his eyes at these two.

 

“I see how it is, fine, Rezi. You know what this means right?” She shakes her head. “This makes you are a traitor to your knight. And as a traitor, you are banned from ever sitting on this awesome shoulder ever again.”

 

“Whatever, Dave. I need rest. Stop being so pissy, I’ll be back on your shoulder after my nap.”

 

“Whatever, Rez, you better keep that promise.”

 

“What... happened to... never letting... me... back on?” She closes her eyes and promptly begins to snore.

 

“Now that, Rez is asleep, are we in agreement to go into the mountains?” Karkat shakes his head.

 

“Not until I get my own fucking weapons.”

 

          Dave waves for Karkat to sit closer. Karkat eyes Dave suspiciously, before walking a little closer and sitting. Karkat sits about an armth length away and Karkat sees Dave roll his eyes. Dave scooches closer to Karkat.

 

“Look if we’re gonna go on this adventure together, you have to learn to trust me.”

 

“Why the fuck would I do that, human?” Karkat tries to move farther away without disturbing the small fairy nestled in his clothes. Dave forcefully grabs Karkat’s hand, not forcefully enough to knock the fairy off, but enough to keep the troll in place. Karkat hisses and glares at the human.

 

“We’re going to be stuck together for the duration of this journey and if it’s not too much to ask, I would rather not do this troll-human thing. It’s just too much effort to keep up this ‘I hate you and I want to stab your guts out’ attitude. I’m not asking you to be my best bro or anything, lets just coexist, aight?” Karkat snarls softly.

 

“You don’t ask for trust, you earn it. Besides it’s not my fault fucking troll society and human society hates each other. I mean how do you not have fear instilled into your very being. You were in the fucking war! Out of all the humans, you should hate us the most.” Dave tenses at that and pulls away.

 

“The war is not something I would want to relive. It’s not something to just bring up, Karkat. I brought it up before for explanation purposes. No one wanted it and everyone suffered from it.” He says softly.

 

        The two are silent for a long time. Dave seems to be deep in thought. Karkat feels a tiny bit guilty for bringing up something that caused the human to become so upset. Sure, this human is supposedly his mortal enemy, but Karkat can’t help his disgusting kindness. Karkat feels safe being around the human, even though they just met. It’s as if they’ve known each other for much longer than a day and a half. But that’s impossible right? Clearing his thoughts, Karkat listened to the soft snoring of the still sleeping fairy, until Karkat couldn’t stand the silence any longer.

 

“Look, human, I didn’t mean to fucking upset your Highness, but we should probably fucking, I don’t know, figure out where we are going to go.”

 

“That is a shit way of apologizing and you should be ashamed.” Karkat feels relieved that the human is back to his normal self. “Besides, instead of human, at least call me by my name. I mean I know it’s so cool that you don’t want to contaminate it with your saliva, so I’ll give you the permission to use my awesome name.”

 

“Fuck that name, seriously, if there was an even more common name than Dave, call me up. It’s about as unique as the dirt beneath your feet. Even me, a fucking troll, knows that Dave is a fucking common ass name. And Strider really? Why did you name yourself after a form of motion? Was your lusus so uncreative that the best fucking name to give his wriggler was Strider? Fuck, humans are lame.”

 

“What the fuck ever, Vantass. As if Karkat Vantas is a cool name. I mean think of all the possibilities that makes your name as embarrassing as possible. Here are some prime examples: Karkitten Vants, KitKat, Karkitty, KK VantAss, and so much more.” The two stop talking, when the fairy stirs and rolls over, mumbling.

 

“We shouldn’t wake, Rezi. As gentlemen and gentletroll, we must be polite to the little lady.” Dave said sarcastically.

 

“Fuck you, I’m threatening, not some weak ass gentletroll.”

 

“What the fuck ever, let’s just get back to what we were saying.”

 

“Fine. First off, how much money, supplies, and blankets do we have?”

 

“None. As for supplies, we live off of what nature gives us. And blankets, one.”

   

        Karkat is going to throw his arms in frustration, until he remembers that there is a certain someone sleeping on his shoulders. Instead he concentrates on trying to not rip this human’s throat out. How the hell did these two dunderheads live as long as they did? He reaches up to pull at his hair, using the hand that is unoccupied by Terezi.

 

“What the actual fuck? How the hell did you two even survive? How are you not eaten alive by the wild beasts that inhabit this place?” Dave shrugs.

 

“Terezi doesn’t eat much and I have enough ability to hunt about one animal a day if I'm lucky, though recently those animals have become faster. As for blankets, I only needed enough for one.”

 

“Where the hell did you acquire the armor and sword and clothes and blankets without fucking money!?”

 

“I started out with this stuff. Like before my journey, I wore these very clothes, armor, and sword. As for the blanket, I found it lying outside a nobleman’s home so I was like, since they don’t need, I might as well take it.”

 

“So you are fucking telling me, you’ve worn the same clothes, had the same armor, used the same sword, and slept in the same blanket for how many years now?”

 

“Eh, about ten years, thirty-four days, and fifty seconds. Give or take.” Karkat rubs his temples.

 

“And your armor has not rusted yet, sword not broken yet, and clothes not ripped yet why?”

 

“I don’t use my sword much, and since my aspect is time, I can elongate the amount of time it takes for the materials to erode. I can also fix up any tiny tear that happens to my clothes by reversing time for a few seconds.”

 

“Doesn’t it tire you out like Ms. Sleepy-head over here?” He points to the small, happy lump that seems to be attached to his shoulder.

 

“Naw, it only uses a small portion of my power to maintain such a spell, it’s not like I’m going really far back in time or forward in time, now that would exhaust the hell out of me. Knock me right out. I’m surprised, TZ, could still talk after exerting her power like that.”

 

“Does this mean I have some untapped ability that allows me to perform awesome, logic-defying feats too?” For once in his life, Karkat seems excited about this, of course he hides that behind his signature scowl.

 

“Maybe, how the hell would I know?”

 

“Well how did you discover your power than?”

 

“It just comes naturally.”

 

“Thanks human. That was literally the best explanation anyone has given me. I feel so enlightened by your knowledge that all my previous and future questions have disappeared. Thank you, you are too kind in sharing with me all this precious information.”

 

“I’m just telling the truth here.” Karkat just sighs. After a day and a half of this asshole, Karkat feels like he’s starting to get used to this guy’s bullshit.

 

“Alright, since you fuckasses, clearly can’t think for yourself. I will now appoint myself leader and everything will go through me before it’s carried out.”

 

“Fine by me.” Dave shrugs. “If you want to take all the responsibility and stress, that’s great. It’s a load off my back.”

 

“Wait, really?”

 

“Yeah, I don’t care who’s in charge as long as we complete this dumbass quest.”

 

        No one has ever agreed to Karkat before. It’s a completely new experience for him and for some reason, it feels good to have something go his way. It’s exciting, but also a little intimidating. He fears that this decision will later backfire. Oh well, he’ll let future Karkat deal with that.

   

         So as appointed leader, he quickly develops a plan. Karkat explains to Dave what exactly they have to do. First off, they can’t possibly survive without money. Since none of them has the ability to make weapons or food out of thin air, it would be extremely beneficial to purchase better equipment and long lasting food. As well as some sort of sleeping material for Karkat. Karkat sighs; he misses sopor slime. Nextly, they should probably locate where some of the other aspects would be. However, Dave tells Karkat that this may be harder said than done since Terezi’s mind ability affects her body heavily and if used too much, will put her out of commission for good. Karkat forgets that this is a supposedly a fucking adventure and adventurers never take the easy way out, no, they have to go through the most circuitous and convoluted labyrinth possible. Karkat rubs his temples again, all of this dumbassery is giving him a headache. So he decides this is the opportune time to stop thinking.

 

“How’ll we make money?” Dave asks.

 

        Nope, nope. Karkat’s brain has shut down for the day, please come again when Karkat is willing to open his knowledge to the dumb human. But rather than let Karkat have his peace. The Dave human begins to poke incessantly at him. Karkat lets out the deepest sigh of all.

 

“Do you keep the fur of the animals you kill?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“First off, that’s weird as fuck. Secondly, where the fuck do you keep all of that shit?" Dave points to the large bundle behind Karkat. Karkat didn't know why he didn't see such a large bag before. Why the fuck would he carry all of that? You know what fuck that train of thought, it's not important, Karkat tells himself. He insteads turns back to the shades wearing human. "Thirdly, thank you for not being a complete fuckup.”

 

“The hell is that suppose to mean?”

 

“Is your brain so small that you can’t even connect one and one together? Were you dropped on the head as a wriggler? You probably were that’s why you can’t even think for five seconds. We can fucking sell the furs, you dumb fuck!”

 

“Oh yeah. I forgot the market was a thing. Haven’t been in a town so long that I forgot you could sell all kinds of things for money.”

 

“Once again this begs the question as to how you survived this long with such a miniscule brain. It’s probably so small if we opened it up right now, we wouldn’t be able to see it.”

 

“Well, excuse me, princess. So we’re traveling to town then.” Karkat nods.

 

        The fairy picks this moment to wake up. She stretches her small limbs and flutters her wings. She yawns loudly and begins fixing her dress and glasses.

 

“So what did I miss?”

 

“Only a couple of hours of bickering before finally deciding to go to town,” replies Dave.

 

“Oh man, I can’t wait, I haven’t been able to buy anything in forever.”

 

“Damn, Rezi, I’m sorry for being such a broke motherfucker.”

 

        She flies over to Dave’s shoulder and settles. Karkat wriggles his numb shoulders and stretch. Terezi pats his shoulders happily.

 

“Then let’s set out to the nearest town!” Terezi points to a small town. Karkat and Dave nod in agreement.

 

        So begins the journey of a troll, a human, and a fairy towards the town of Light and Rain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed. Creative criticism is appreciated. :)


	4. Dave Reach the Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave has a nightmare. Dave and gang arrive in town.

          Dave stares at his Rezi and Karcrab fighting. He can’t help, but think that those two seem like brother and sister, as if they’ve known each other much much longer than a day and thirteen hours and forty-five seconds. The boy sighs as he stares vacantly into the distance, it’s been awhile since his last visit into town. He often avoids towns because it reminds him of the _incident_. The one that forever changed his life and destroyed his chances for a happy family.

  

           He didn’t really want to be reminded of past idiocies and mistakes. It is hard enough to live in this prejudiced planet already. Dave shakes head, trying to clear his thoughts. Now is not the time to dwell on your past mistakes, he tells himself. Not that it will stop him from doing so. Instead he looks up at the sky and realizes how dark it has become.

 

“Yo, Rez and Grumpy, we have a problem. If you look up at the sky, you will find that the glowing orb of light is no longer a yellow smudge, in the smack dab middle of an endless blue. Unless you wanna go into town with no plan and not be able to buy anything, I suggest that we sleep here.”

 

         Terezi who’s now sitting on Karkat’s shoulders nods with you. Karkat just mutters and Dave takes that as a yes and sets up “camp”, if camp meant placing a blanket on the ground then yes, they set up camp. Dave instructs Karkat and Terezi to retrieve wood to start a fire, while Dave hunts down food for the rest of the team. As Dave set out, he could hear Rezi and Kark arguing a mile away. A smirk appears on his face, he hasn’t been this entertained in a long time. He knows Rezi enjoys Sir Rage-a-lot too.

 

          Concentrating on hunting, he notices an animal run near him and he uses his time element to stop the animal for ten seconds. In that time he grabs his sword and throws it at the animal. With perfect precision, the projectile hits the animal and it dies instantaneously. Dave always flinches, when he kills an animal. He always has to remind himself that he needs to eat if he doesn’t want to starve himself to death. Dave doesn’t want to see anymore of those damn visions. He’s seen enough to last a lifetime and it scares him every time.

 

         Carefully wrapping the animal in a large leaf, found nearby, Dave carries the dead animal back to the campsite. He finds Karkat and Terezi already back with their wood. Karkat is desperately trying and failing to start up a fire. Terezi is floating and laughing at the poor troll. A perpetual glare is plastered on his face as he raged at the bundle of branches. It is now nighttime and Dave lets his presence be known by teasing the easily angered troll.

 

“What, Karkitty, can’t even light a fucking fire by yourself?”

 

“Go fuck yourself, you ass, and while you’re doing that, make sure to deflate that ego of yours too. It’s so damn big, it’s replacing the very oxygen we breathe. If you leave it unattended, your ego will grow so big, it will eventually kill every living creature on this godforsaken planet.” Terezi rolls her eyes and helps Karkat with the fire.

 

“Stop being so melodramatic, Karkles. Dave is the one who hunts, unless you don’t want food tonight, I suggest you work faster on the fire rather than waste your energy arguing with Dave.” She pushes her pointer finger on the bridge of Karkat’s nose ineffectually. Karkat hisses and swats the fairy away then continues building a fire.

 

          However, much to the misery of Karkat, Terezi continues bothering him throughout the whole fire building, while Dave starts to skin the animal and prepare it. Dave thinks this is the most fun Terezi has had in a long time. Not that she doesn’t have fun with Dave, everyone would love a piece of the Strider. Or at least that’s what Dave hopes, though he assumes this is the case since they’ve been together for so long.

         

          Eventually, the animal is ready to be cooked and Karkat has finally started the fire. So the next half-hour or so, they wait for the animal to be cooked. During this time, Dave and Terezi tell Karkat all the little adventures they’ve been on together to get “re-acquainted” with the young troll. Dave talks about all the things he saw during his trek from where he came from to where he is now. Dave tries to sound uninterested through the entire talk, in contrast, Terezi is animated throughout her recollection. When Terezi is speaking, Dave turns the sizzling meat. Unluckily for them, throughout their adventure, they couldn’t find a single element. Karkat is the first. Well, it is to be expected, since the elements are spread throughout the planet.

   

          During the entire talk, Karkat didn’t say much. All the tiny troll did was listen and input an inane comment every now and then. When Terezi and Dave finally finishes, the meat was done cooking and everyone chows down. It isn’t much, but it is enough. Karkat gulps down his food in one bite and almost chokes. Dave, ironically, pats his back and a smile is on the verge of appearing on his face. This troll is so adorable, oh no, he didn’t just think that. Delete that train of thought, abort, abort! There, it is erased, never to resurface.

   

          Dave occupies his mind with the problem of sleep instead. There is one blanket and three people, well a troll, fairy, and Dave, but that’s not the point. The point is either they are all going to have to snuggle or they going to have to take turns sleeping. Fuck... Well maybe Karkat and Rezi can take the blanket and he uses his cape.

 

“Karkitten and Rezi, you guys are going to share the blanket and I’ll use my cape.”

 

“Won’t you be cold?” Terezi looks worried. Karkat seems annoyed with his new nickname, but says nothing, probably due to exhaustion.

 

“Don’t worry about me. I’m a big boy now.” As if to prove his point, Dave gently pounds his hand to his chest. Karkat didn’t care one way or another and cocoons himself in the blanket.

 

“Karkles! Stop hogging the blanket.”

 

“No, fuck you. This is mine now.” Terezi pouts.

 

“No fair. Dave said that we’re suppose to share.”

 

“Fuck him. He doesn’t know a thing about trolls and their sleeping habits.” Terezi rolls her eyes.

 

“Who cares! Just let me in.” Karkat begrudgingly lets her into his blanket fortress. Dave smirks before wrapping himself in his cape and drifting off.

 

                                                                                          *********

 

          No. No. NO! Red is everywhere. It covers his hands and his clothes. He desperately presses his hands onto the wound, but it keeps coming. Covering him like an ocean. Scared, he starts to say nonsensical things, but eventually it falls into a sort of plea. Don’t die. Don’t die. Don’t die! The cold hand reaches up to grab his, comforting him. Please. Please, anyone but _him_. The cold being takes a shaky breath before falling in on itself. Not breathing, never again. He cries. No. This wasn’t suppose to happen. No. No. NO!

 

                                                                                           *********

 

          Dave wakes up with a start. Breathing shakily, he realizes that his cheeks are wet. Quickly wiping the tears, he pulls his knees up. Cool kids aren’t suppose to cry, Dave scolds himself. Dave’s internal clock told him that it is the early hours of the morning, too early for him to be up. Dave didn’t notice the troll, until Karkat is right in front of him. Dave yelps, before glaring at the being. He looks over to see Terezi still asleep, but unluckily for Dave, he now has to deal with a troll.

 

“You didn’t see that.”

 

“What? You mean seeing you bawling like a wriggler, then yes I did see that shit.”

 

“Shut up.” Dave growls.

 

“What, human, you think you could keep hiding behind a facade forever. Well, reality is a bitch. You think that all of your damn human emotions can be held back. It’s like holding back an ocean, you can never suppress all of it, there will be a breaking point. I know from experience.” Karkat’s face is passive, Dave can’t read Karkat.

 

“Fuck you. I’m Dave motherfucking Strider, cool kid extraordinaire. I don’t need some damn troll to tell me what will and will not happen.” The troll rolls his eyes.

 

“What the fuck ever. Look, Strider. It’s early as shit, I just had a nightmare, my head is killing me, and I’m as cold as fuck, is it too much to ask if we not deal with your strange human pride in suppressing emotions right now.” The trolls goes to restart the fire and as the fire finally lights, Karkat brings his hands towards the warm glow.

 

          Dave hates the fact that someone other than Rezi saw his vulnerability. Why the fuck did it have to be that dream? Always that dream. He always sees _him_ there dying and his own hopelessness as _he_ dies. Realizing that he’s cold as well, Dave reluctantly sits near the fire. Silence fills the area. He is thankful that Karkat isn’t asking what he dreamt about. Trying to get his thoughts off of his nightmare, his thoughts wander to what Karkat dreamt about that woke him up, but before Dave inquires about the troll’s dreams. A gurgling fills the air. Karkat cusses at his stomach and for some reason, that lifts Dave’s spirits up, not that he will ever tell Karkat that.

 

“Fuck this growling sack of shit.” The troll gets up to most likely scrounge for food. Dave stops him.

 

“I’ll get breakfast, you just protect Rez and watch that fire.” The troll scrunches his face up in disdain, but sits back down near the fire. Dave assumes that Karkat feels like he’s unable to pull his own weight or some shit like that, but who knows. No one knows what strange thoughts go through a mind like his.

 

          Dave finally gains control of his facade, as Karkat will call it, thanks to his walk through the serene forest. Dave didn’t feel like killing another animal and seeing it’s red, red blood seep through the creature, while the light leaves its eyes becoming a pair of lifeless marbles. So Dave gathers up berries and various edible plants. Luckily for him, he is able to stumble upon a couple of eggs nearby. Snatching them up a bit guiltily, Dave makes his way back towards camp to see that Terezi is awake now too.

 

“Fucking finally. I was beginning to think you abandon us, not that I would blame you, I mean an angry troll and an annoying fairy has got to be your worst companions ever.”

 

“Nah, I’ve grown accustomed to Rezi’s... uniqueness, but for you, I think you’re alright.” The troll looks up at you in surprise before donning his usual glare. Terezi acts offended.

 

“Mr. Strider, you do not grow accustomed to Terezi. You only grow to enjoy this lady’s company, never grow accustom to.” She puffs out her cheeks.

 

“Sorry, Rez.” Dave shrugs nonchalantly and Terezi flies over to playfully pound her small fists onto Dave’s armor.

 

          Breakfast was soon made and eaten. As the three pack up for camp, they discuss what to do first in the town. Karkat says that the first thing is to get rid off all the fur, Dave has been carrying with him. Terezi agrees with Karkat that this is probably the best course of action. Dave also tells Karkat that now is the best time to become human before he forgets and gets everyone killed.

   

         Karkat brings out the stone and grimaces. Dave watched as a red light envelopes the young troll. Because of that light, Dave had to readjust his eyes. When he can see through his sensitive eyes again he notices that the troll was replaced with a scowling human.

 

         Karkat had black, messy hair, much like his troll hair. Karkat’s ears have become less pointed and more round. There are bags under Karkat’s eyes. He looks mostly normal for a human, albeit a slightly smaller build for humans his age. However the most unsettling face is that Karkat’s eyes are the same color as Dave’s eyes.

 

“Wow, Kitkat... You look... human.”

 

“Well, that’s what the stone is suppose do, dumbfuck.”

 

“Well, I am used to you being a troll.”

 

“We met for a day and a half! What the fuck is there to get used to?” Dave stays quiet, he wants to say more, but leaves it as is. They fall into a comfortable silence after that. After packing everything, they set out towards the town and actually reach it.

 

 

         The first thing that strikes Dave is how much smaller towns used to be. People are everywhere and there are so many stores around the city that he’s surprised that the people don’t go bankrupt from overbuying. Karkat is just as surprised as you are. Even stranger is that there are magical creatures traveling through the city unnoticed, as though it is the most normal thing in the world. Terezi is hiding under your cape until now, then she notices that that is not necessary.

 

         Terezi leads everyone to the bazaar, how she knows where the fuck everything is, Dave has no idea. The group stops at a rather plain clothes store. Different color fabrics are all over the place. Fur, silk, velvet, pretty much any type of clothing material one could think of is in there. However, everything is neat and labelled. Dave admires all the selection of clothe they have before turning towards all the clothes that are made from the clothe. Even though Dave doesn't have a clue about fashion, he knows beautiful clothes when he sees them and those are some beautiful clothing.

         Two beautiful women stand at the back of store. Both are very composed and seem to share some sort of intimacy with each other. The blonde haired, purpled eyed one quirks up her dark lips in a smile when she sees the trio enter the store. The black haired, green eyed one stays composed and walks up to greet them.

 

“Hello. Welcome to our quaint, little store. Is there anything you would like to purchase?” The girl inquires politely.

 

“Kanaya, these are the individuals, I’ve been telling you about.” The girl at the call of her name looks back at the blonde.

 

“What? Is this the truth, Rose?” Rose nods.

 

“But where is the uh... troll you spoke of?” She says troll with a sort of disgust.

 

“He is the one without the shades.” The girl named Kanaya glares at Karkat. Karkat’s eyes are glancing all around the room as if looking for an escape.

 

“Calm down, weary traveller. We will not cause you any harm. Please excuse my friend, Kanaya, she had a very... tragic past relating to trolls.” The young woman, Rose, walks around the counter and towards the trio, smiling albeit a bit reserved. “Now, I would like to invite the three of you in for tea. Please follow me to the back.” Dave quirks an eyebrow at Terezi and she nods. The two follow Rose. Karkat glances at Kanaya, deciding whether or not this is going to be a good idea.

 

“Fine, but if you two try any funny business, I am so fucking out of here.” Karkat glares at Kanaya and she narrows her eyes at him as though saying whatever you dish out, I'll make it two times worse.

 

“I will not attack unless provoked, but if there is a single scratch on Rose that wasn’t there before, you are dead, troll.” Kanaya glances once again at the trio before manning the store by herself, clearly worried.

 

         The trio travel to the back where there is a homely kitchen and a steaming teapot. Rose tells the group to sit down and enjoy themselves, while she serves tea and biscuits. After everyone is situated, Rose begins to talk.

 

“I’ve forseen your arrival for some time now. Kanaya and I are a few of the elements you have been searching for so long for. You see, I possess some of the same abilities as your fairy friend.” Terezi grunts, Rose laughs softly. “Excuse me, dragon fairy friend.”

 

“If you knew you were going to fucking find us, then why didn’t you join up with Dave and Terezi sooner?” Karkat is still glancing nervously at the girl in the back. He clearly did not like small spaces that contained a girl who may or may not want to gut him alive.

 

“You may find this silly, but I assure you that this is fate. If we are to change a single thing, however small, the most favorable outcome may not happen. It is therefore most beneficial to let the timelines run itself.” Rose takes a sip of tea.

 

“Where is your mark?” Asks Dave.

 

          Rose rolls up her sleeve gracefully so that they can see her shoulder. It is a picture of a yellow sun, seemingly bright and vibrant.

 

“May I inquire as to see yours?”

 

          Dave takes his shades off for but a second before placing them back where they belong. Terezi sticks out her tongue showing her teal tattoo and Karkat warily shows his wrist to the girl.

 

“Wait a minute, how is it that you guys all have your marks, while I got mine only after touching this douchebag?”

 

“You obtain your mark only after you have physically touched someone who is also related to the elements, since as said before, Kanaya is part of the elements, we both achieved our marks simultaneously.”

 

“Yeah, Karkles, I only had this mark after meeting Dave.” Terezi lounges comfortably on the table, munching on a biscuit.

 

“Okay, this means from now on you’ll be traveling with us, right?” Rose nods. “What are you going to do about this store?” Dave questions.

 

“I’ve already arranged for it to be taken over by another trustworthy friend, so we are ready to leave as soon as the group is ready to leave.”

 

“Okay, I know we’re supposedly companions now, but I have a bunch of fur and I want to deal business with you before leaving.” Amused, Rose agrees. Dave brings out the large bag and places it on the table.

 

“My, my, what a large bag of beautiful furs you have. I’m sure Kanaya will be very happy to have such an addition to the store.” While admiring the furs, Rose brings out a bag of coins and hands it to Dave. “This is surely enough to satisfy you.” Dave counts the money and realizes that that is a lot of money.

 

“Thank you.” She nods politely, getting up to refill her tea.

 

    Dave then splits the money between the three of them. He gives a few coins to Terezi and some coins to Karkat.

 

“What am I going to do with these, you fucker?” Dave snorts.

 

“Go out and buy weapons, isn’t this what you got here for?” It seems to don on Karkat that he can do that. However he seems reluctant to leave Dave and Terezi. Dave thinks that that is quite cute of the troll. Before Karkat could decide whether or not to leave to get his weapons, though, Rose calls out from the kitchen.

 

“Kanaya.” The girl is in here so fast, it is as though she teleported. She glares at Karkat, before turning to Rose.

 

“Yes, Rose?”

 

“I want you to go with Karkat to the blacksmith.” Kanaya looks utterly appalled.

 

“You want me to go with this...this... creature who might betray us at a seconds notice.” Rose sternly waved her pointer finger at Kanaya. Karkat seems to be holding himself back from a rant.

 

“Now, now, Kanaya, troll or not, they are our guests and we must treat our guests with respect and kindness.” Kanaya grits her teeth.

 

“Fine. Follow me.” She says rudely.

 

“Do I have a fucking say in this?” Rose and Terezi shake their heads and Karkat defeatedly follows behind Kanaya though cautiously of course.

 

         Dave is only slightly worried that this might be a bad idea. Of course, he’s worried for Karkat. Rose insists that the other two stay and finish their tea and biscuits before continuing their trip to the other stores. Terezi nods and stuffs herself with some more of Rose’s delicious biscuits. Dave does the same, but in a more reserved manner.

         After an hour or so, someone bursts into the store. He is breathing hard. The poor guy is very confused and disheveled.

 

“Ms. Lalonde! Ms. Lalonde! We’ve found a troll in town!” Terezi and Dave stand up so quickly Dave’s tea cup fall to the floor resulting in an audible crash.

  
Fucking hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed. Cliffhanger and tried to incorporate Rose and Kanaya. Hopefully, it was done well. Need to get the plot moving, so sorry for the rush of characters. Constructive criticism is appreciated. :)


	5. Kanaya: Get into Trouble with the Troll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanaya POV

 

“Why is it that I have to end up with you, _troll_?”

 

            Kanaya sits at the farthest the cell would allow her. Kanaya doesn't to be anywhere near the troll. The cell itself is small, barely able to contain one prisoner, much less two. For those with claustrophobia, not only is space a problem, but also the horrid stench. Kanaya does _not_ want to think about the cause of such an awful odor. The young girl struggles to keep her composure; never show weaknesses to your adversaries, as her mother would say. At the thought of her mother, she remembers why she hates trolls so.

 

“Whoop-de-fucking-do! I’m some angry asshole of a troll. Well, darling, you’re fucking stuck with me so there is no complaining now. Besides you were the one who brought up our element shit.” Karkat sighs and crosses his arms.

  
“Look, _troll_ , if it were not for your carelessness, we would not be in this dire situation.” Kanaya growls at Karkat. She walks up to him, until she stands right in front of him. Roughly, she grabs his collar.

 

“I should have gotten rid of you when the opportunity arose.” Karkat tries to stay strong and stares defiantly at Kanaya.

 

“W-Well, why didn’t you just fucking let them kill me then?” Kanaya smiles slightly, tightening her grip on his sweater.

 

“Because, I am not a troll. I know when to show mercy and kindness. I know when to be self-disciplined and in control. I know that the world needs you, even if I want to destroy your very existence.” She finally lets go of him and he falls to the ground with a thud.

 

            Kanaya strides back to her corner and props herself up against the wall. Karkat stays seated on the ground. As the minutes pass, Kanaya’s mind starts to drift. She thinks back to what happens at the bazaar and winces at her own stupidity.

**Hours in the Past**

_Kanaya furiously leads the troll through town, until they reach a weapon shop. In the shop, a large, tanned male greets the two of them._

_“What can I do for you? Oh Kan, nice to see you again. Helping them, new comers again. Ah, how sweet of you.”_

_He smiles widely at Kanaya. The weapons storeowner has known Kanaya all of her life and was there to take care of her after her mother’s incident. To Kanaya, the storeowner is like another father. She can’t help, but smile when he is around._

_“Mr. Slicer, this is…” She grits her teeth. “…a friend of mine.” Kanaya practically chokes the last part out. The owner frowns, noticing Kanaya’s discomfort. “He needs some assistance.” She says quickly.  
_

_The owner turns to the small male behind Kanaya. Kanaya can’t help thinking how similar Karkat is to a cat. Always alert and wary, if there should be any trouble, he’ll look for the nearest escape. She didn’t like the way he sagged, seeming to shrink. And those eyes, they were most unsettling of them all, troll or otherwise._

_The owner gruffly addresses the boy. Kanaya can’t help, but inwardly smile. Mr. Slicer had always been very protective of her, and even now, though he doesn’t know the circumstances, he can see that Karkat unsettles Kanaya._

_“What do you want, boy?”_

_“Weapons.” The owner raised his eyebrows._

_“Yes that is what we sell here.” Karkat fidgets in place._

_“I would like to purchase some sickles, if that’s not too fucking much to ask.”_

_“Sickles! Ha! You’re better off looking in some garden shop if that’s what you’re looking for.” Karkat glares defiantly at the owner, but Mr. Slicer stands his ground. “Look, kid, you’ve seriously got this wrong. Sickles aren’t weapons, at least not in my book. So go home, boy.” If Karkat were not a troll, Kanaya would have respected Karkat for standing his ground._

_“Look, I’m a paying customer. And as such, it doesn’t matter whatever my fucking request is. No matter how silly. The only weapon I’ve ever used and will use is a pair of sickles. So are you going to fucking accept my money or do I have to take my shit elsewhere.” Karkat’s face is pulled into a scowl. At first it was silent before the owner shrugs and smiles widely._

_“Kid, you got spunk, I’ll give you that.” The owner says with a sigh. “I’ll make your damn sickles. Since it’s a weapon that is not already made, you’ll have to wait a couple of days before I will be able to deliver them.”_

_Karkat hisses in slight annoyance, but nods. Karkat walks over and hands him the money. Before he could leave though, the owner grabs Karkat by the collar and yanks him up to eye-level. Karkat is so high off the ground his feet don’t even touch the floor._

_“If you ever do anything to hurt Kanaya, you are dead.” The owner says this quietly, so quietly that Kanaya almost doesn’t catch what he said.  Karkat swallows before nodding. The owner smiles widely and drops Karkat. “Bye, Kan. If you ever need anything, feel free to drop by and visit me.”_

_Kanaya grins and waves goodbye to the owner. Before they head back to Rose’s though, Kanaya decides to go visit the bazaar. Rose forgot to buy groceries yesterday and Kanaya decides that this will save them both time. The troll lags behind her and she turns around quickly._

_“Please, cease your attempt to follow me like a lost mutt.” Sheepishly, he rubs the back of his neck._

_“Look, I don’t want this any more than you do. But I kind of don’t know how we go back.” Kanaya is astounded by the stupidity of the trollian race. She is surprised that they even survived this long, if they can’t even memorize simple routes. She rubs her temples._

_“Ask around for directions, I don’t want to prolong this any longer.” She turns towards the bazaar once again. She thought the troll had actually listened to her, but a few seconds later she heard him follow behind her._

_“Kanaya!” As he ran, Karkat trips on one of the nearby tiles and he falls with a thud._

_Kanaya turns just in time to see Karkat’s falling form and a red gem fly across the bazaar. It falls right at her feet and she picks it up. All of a sudden, the citizens and magical creatures exclaim in alarm. She looks up to see the gray skin and horns of a troll. Of course, of course! The troll would be stupid enough to destroy his own disguise. Karkat gingerly gets up, no one moves. They are all too surprised to move. Karkat has yet to notice his transformation. As he brushes his pants, he notices that his hands aren’t that putrid human color._

_“Shit!” Karkat screams. Everyone snaps out of his or her daze._

_Suddenly, everything is in chaos. Karkat tries to run, while the warriors close in on him. All the others run away from the scene, putting as much distance between the troll and themselves as possible. There are enough warriors and magical fighters that Karkat is surrounded in no time._

_“Fuck!”_

_It doesn’t look like Karkat is going to go down without a fight. But what can one troll with nubby horns do against thirty well-armed and well-trained fighters. In no time at all, Karkat is pin to the ground. Someone must have called the mayor, because he is right in front of Karkat after the commotion._

_“Lock the creature up. We need to make a spectacle of it, so its brethren will not show up at our doorstep.”_ _One of the warriors argues with the mayor._

_“We should kill it now before it kills us.” The mayor frowns. Face wrack with indecision._

_Kanaya can’t let them kill Karkat. No matter how much she hates trolls. No matter what, she can’t let the people suffer because of her hatred. She owes that much to the villagers who cares for her and for Rose who loves her. She pushes her way to the middle of the crowd._

_“Mayor, Mayor!” The mayor turns his head to see Kanaya._

_“Kanaya, what is the problem?”_

_“I must inform you, refrain from killing that troll.” The villagers gasp. If there is anyone who should condemn trolls, it is Kanaya. And yet, she’s trying to save one of them._

_“What is with this sudden change of heart, Kanaya?” The mayor is puzzled by this turn of events._

_“He is one of the elements, in the Skaia legend!” Not a sound is made after that._

_“Is this true?” She nods. “Where is its mark?” The mayor turns to the troll still pinned to the ground. Karkat’s red eyes meet the mayor’s expectant brown ones._

_“How the hell do you expect me to show you anything, if you have me pinned to the ground!” Karkat yells. The warrior brings his spear closer to Karkat’s throat. Karkat shuts up relatively quickly after that._

_After a moment, the mayor dismisses a few of the warriors, just enough so that Karkat can sit up. He lifts up his wrist. Sure enough a red, jagged like line runs across his wrist, the mark of the element of blood. Everyone is stunned. No one knows what to say._

_The mayor not quite believing this states, “If you are truly one of the elements, then you shall be able to perform the task set up in the temple.” He turns to Kanaya. “Kanaya, you know that you will have to prove that this is no lie, right?” She nods._

_“I assure you, this is no fraud.”_

_“Fine. However, I am holding the both of you where our guards can watch over you two. I'll have a discussion with the rest of the council members.”_

_The warriors next to Karkat grab him roughly by the hair eliciting a yelp, followed by a growl. A sword is put against his back, and he is forced forward. One of the other warriors grabs Kanaya’s hand and leads her to the jailhouse._

_“Can we not be held in a more comfortable housing? That jailhouse hasn’t been used for five years!” The warrior shakes his head sadly._

_“I’m sorry, Kanaya, but the troll is too dangerous to put anywhere else. We can’t have it escape and cause uproar again. Please, it will only be a short time.” The warrior awkwardly pats her hair before leading her to the unused cell._

_Karkat is thrown roughly in and he smacks painfully into the small cot. Kanaya on the other hand is lead in. Karkat rubs his aching shoulder, when he snaps out of his daze. Once Kanaya is inside, the warriors slide the rusty jail door closed.  
_

_“If that troll, causes you any trouble at all, do not be afraid to call us over, Kanaya. I know that you’re not one to help trolls. It’s just that the town would rather take precautions then have other towns call us troll sympathizers.” Kanaya nods._

_“I understand.” All but two of the warriors leave. The two guards stand near the cell._

 

            Kanaya is disturbed out of her thoughts when she hears a familiar deep voice.

 

“Kan! Are you alright?” She runs over to the bars to see the storeowner. He grasps her hands, worry etched in his face. Smiling shakily, she nods. The owner glares at the form that is still on the floor. “That _thing_ didn’t hurt you, did it?”

 

“No, no, I’m fine. Please, tell Rose what happened.” He squeezes her hands.

 

“Of course, Kan, of course. Just be careful. It’s not worth losing your life for that creature, if there should be any danger Kan, get out of there.” She nods. Satisfied, he lets her go. “I’ll be back soon, until then keep safe.”

 

            After the owner leaves, she only has to wait a few hours more before seeing a familiar blond haired woman. Rose is accompanied by the troll's companions.

 

“Kanaya.”

 

“Rose!”

 

“You are not hurt, are you?” Kanaya shakes her head. Rose smiles and grasps her hands. “I am glad. But I’ve heard that you two will have to go through the trial.”

 

“Yes. The same one we went through together.”

 

“Ah yes, however, I presume that this time it will be different." Rose looks a little thoughtful before continuing her train of thought. "I am happy that our town is one of the few that still follows customs.” She hands Kanaya a basket. “This, dear, is for you and Karkat.” Kanaya accepts it gratefully. “Now I must make my departure, you two have a long day ahead of you and I would rather not intrude on well deserved sleep.” Before she leaves, Rose places a beautiful good luck charm in Kanaya’s hand. The kind of charm that she and Rose used to make when they were younger. She takes it and puts it into the pocket with the red gem. “Be careful, Kanaya.” Then she is gone. Carefully, she walks over to Karkat. It seems like she missed all of the conversation between Karkat and his companions.

“What do you want?” He’s turned away from her.

 

“I don’t want to converse with you either, but Rose has brought food for us both. Be grateful.” Karkat looks up at Kanaya and sneers.

 

“Yes, I’ll be grateful to the humans who want me dead. Maybe tomorrow I should grovel at their feet as well and lick the very ground humans stand on. Thank you for saving my worthless life. Thank you for prolonging a painful existence.”

 

“Why are you so infuriating?” She grabs her own food and throws the basket onto the ground next to the troll. Eventually, the only sound in the room is the two of them eating.

 

*********

 

           After a restless night of sleep, the mayor finally comes back to the cell. “Kanaya, the temple is ready for your and your troll’s test.”

           

            Kanaya remembers the forest and her fond memories. She used to spend them with her family and she would run through meadow playing with the butterflies. She remembers making flower crowns and playing with her brother... Suppressing the sad memories, she walks forward towards the foreboding temple. Eventually, they reach a clearing in which the large pyramid stood. It was covered in moss and vines. The very epitome of ancient and old, it was.

          

            Kanaya took in the familiar musky smell and smiled. She remembers the first time she was here with Rose. It was wonderful discovering her dormant abilities especially alongside a companion, but now it seems, she must do so again with another less reassuring partner.

           

            The warriors push Karkat in first and let Kanaya walk in. The temple door shuts noisily behind them. The first thing she discovers is the strangeness of everything. Where there was pits was now covered completely by water and rather than the familiar walls there were protruding spikes. Instead of being greeted by the familiar feeling, everything looks technologically advanced. Furthermore all those profound inventions seem to have an effect on her powers. Being an element of space, she is naturally able to warp space and move from one dimension to the next. She can even shrink and enlarge objects. However within the confines of these walls, she can barely even access a short teleportation spell. When had the mayor even find time to input all of these new mechanics between the time of their arrest and their entrance into the temple? Maybe it was installed recently, after Kanaya stopped visiting the temple.

 

“So what now?” The troll asks gruffly.

 

“I don’t know…” Kanaya walks forward, but is pulled back by Karkat.

 

“Wait, don’t go yet. We should fucking have a plan before diving head first into the lion’s waiting mouth!” He has a point, but when has Kanaya ever wanted to listen to Karkat?

 

“Shut it, _troll_ , so we can finish this as soon as possible.”

 

            Carefully, Kanaya lifts up her skirts and ties them in a bunch. Karkat does the same with his pants. They waded through the water and reach a hallway that diverges into two paths: one to the right and one to the left.

 

“Maybe, you and I should split up.” She says before walking to the right. She wants to go to a comforting place before continuing forward.

 

“And maybe, you should have watched more movies that have the protagonists stuck in temples. Because than you would realize that splitting up is never a good idea in the movies.” He grabs her hand, but she shakes him off.

 

“Are you afraid, _troll_? I thought trolls were supposed to be stubborn brutes with no sense of morality. You don’t need a disposable and weak human like me to get in your way.” Karkat seems to shrink a little under her scrutiny, but stands tall and rebellious.

 

“You think you fucking know every one of us trolls, don’t you? I won’t lie, there are some trolls that are stubborn brutes with a hatred for all things weak, however not all of us are the exact same, not all of us are evil.”

 

“Ha. Good one, troll, but I’ve seen enough of your kind to know. My family was… was killed by you… monsters…” She couldn’t keep her voice from wavering and a choked sob escaped. But she didn’t allow any more slips in her barrier; she can’t let them know she’s weak.

 

“Look Kanaya human, I’m fucking sorry for prying…” Kanaya cuts him off.

 

“I don’t want your pity. I don’t want anything to do with you trolls. Just leave me alone.”

 

            With that she walks off down the hallway. She didn’t hear his footsteps behind her so she assumes that Karkat has gone a different direction. Deep in thought, she reaches a cave like entrance. Kanaya recognizes this cave; it was the one that she and Rose would travel to whenever they entered the temple. Sure the temple is only used to prove your worthiness of your element, but it didn’t mean that one couldn’t go in. Rose and Kanaya loved the peaceful and calming nature of the temple. Their favorite part, though, was this place. Beautiful crystals grew on the walls, and in the middle was a large stalactite. It almost touched the water; it is so large.

         

            Kanaya remembers hot summers spent in this cave. She remembers cooling off in the waters. And now the cave is once again calming her frayed nerves. She nears the water, delicately, taking off her shoes. Kanaya will allow herself this little reprieve before continuing on her journey. Humming, she lets the cool water slip between her toes.

           

            However, she doesn’t get to enjoy the feeling long, before she feels something strangely cold wrap around her ankle. Panicking, she tries to pull her foot back, but it was stronger than her. It pulled her down beneath the water.

           

            The water invading her lungs cuts off her screams. She claws wildly at the thing around her ankle. Opening her eyes in the murky darkness, she sees a mess of tentacles and eyes. A horrorterror! What are they doing here? These creatures haven’t been seen in the last century or so. Many believed they are extinct, and yet one was staring straight at Kanaya. She struggles more in its grip.

         

            Spluttering, more water invades her lungs and she is drowning. A burning sensation arose from her chest area. Weakly she tries to pull her leg away from the monster. Maybe this is where she’s going to die. She can’t fail Rose… She can’t fail the village… She can’t! She mustn’t. But even as these thoughts invaded her head, she felt water invading her lungs. Before she blacks out, she feels strong arms grabbing her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I hope I did Kanaya justice. Also there will be friendly bonding in the next chapter, be warned. :)


	6. Karkat Make a Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanaya is saved (of course). Karkat is able to make a friend.

 

            Karkat hears a scream echo across the hallways and runs into the room of the echo. He dives into the water and swims until he sees a girl, limp and unmoving. He grabs her and pulls, but the tentacle is intent on keeping her underwater. Using his claws he slashes at the writhing noodle. It lets out a howl of pain and retreats its tentacle. With the sound of the monster's scream ringing in his ear, Karkat swims toward the surface. Karkat finally pulls Kanaya from the water, but she is unmoving and pale. She almost looks dead that is if any indication of death is from the color of their skin.

 

“Fuck…fuck… Don’t die!” He pushes against her chest. Push…Push…Push…

 

            Kanaya starts coughing and then vomits the water out. He rubs circles around her back comforting her. He lets her breathing calm down, before allowing himself to relax and placing her onto the floor.

 

“Thank fuck…”

 

"Kankri?" She says confused.

 

"Who the fuck is that?"

 

“ _Oh,_ it's you... Why did you save me?” She glares at him.

 

“Is this anyway to thank the troll who saved you?”

 

“Answer me.”

 

“I maybe a troll, but I’m not heartless. Besides, this is my thanks for helping me. Also, I don’t want to have to deal with an enemy for the rest of the trip.” He rubs his neck awkwardly. Her eyes are wide, before laughing out loud. “What!”

 

“You are an idiot. You know it would have been much simpler to get rid of your enemy now, so there is no future trouble.”

 

“Fuck you, I do what I want.” A smile appears on her face for a second before turning into a frown. A thin trail of blood was on Karkat’s cheek. She touches it. Karkat winces. Great now another person knew his blood color. She lifts herself up and sits away from Karkat.

 

“You’re so much like him…even down to your blood. Why do you look so much like him?” This catches Karkat by surprise.

 

“Who?” Karkat wonders if it might be that name she said earlier.

 

“My brother…”

 

“Your brother was a troll!” It feels like an eternity before she finally answers.

 

“Yes and no.”

 

“What the fuck! How can you be a troll, yet not be a troll at the same time.”

 

“He had the appearance of a troll yet, but because he was with us, he had compassion and love.” Karkat rolls his eyes.

 

“Yeah because according to you, trolls can’t feel anything, except for hatred. It’s totally logical that in our race, there is only violence. I mean it’s not like that would fuck up our population. Yep, you’re totally right, trolls only survive on the hurt of others. That’s why our young ones and adults have survived so long and haven’t killed each other yet. Okay maybe our adults are violent, but that doesn’t mean our culture doesn’t have pity. I’ll have you know that romance is very valuable in our society. Even if there are moronic reasons to be culled, our romance is like the nectar for the Love Gogs.” She makes an irritated sigh.

 

“Fine… You are right. I was a bit prejudiced. However, only my opinion on you has changed, not my opinion on the majority of trolls.” They are silent for a little longer.

 

“Are you going to tell me your brother’s story?” Karkat isn’t trying to pry, he is genuinely curious. It is quiet for a long time, before she finally spoke.

 

“He barged into our abode, one rainy night. At the time I was six.”

 

“Six sweeps?”

 

“Sweeps… I haven’t heard that word in years. No I mean six human years.”

 

“Oh…” Karkat wonders what other things are different about their respective races.

 

“Anyways, my father was gone by then. I never got to meet him.” She says thoughtfully.

 

“Even so, I was happy living with my mother. But that night, we were terrified. He collapsed on our doorstep; he must have heard my mother was a doctor because he was badly injured. Being the kind individual that she was, she saved him, despite being a troll. It was high treason, but she didn’t care. That night I remembered the bright red that was etched in the doorway.” Laughing quietly she continues.

 

“It took forever to scrub it off. Well, when my mom saved his life, he became a permanent member of our family. I know strange, luckily for us the rest of the village didn’t know. For the next five years, he was my brother. We called him Kankri. Sometimes he was so insufferable and talkative, but often he was fun and understanding. Despite being talkative, he never talked much about his home for fear of 'triggering' unwanted memories.” Overwhelmed with nostalgia, she let herself remember for a bit before continuing.

 

“Whenever a patient was brought into my mother’s office, Kankri and I would run off into the meadow. It was on one of our excursions that I met Rose. I was so scared; I didn’t want them to take away my brother. I begged her not to tell and she was more than willing to cooperate. Those were the happiest times of my life, spending them with my friend and Kankri. I was never a social butterfly so I never had many friends. Kankri and Rose were my only friends, my best friends.” She clears her throat and tries to hold back her tears.

 

“But all good things must come to an end… Somehow one of the travellers found out and spread the rumor. Eventually, the trolls knew that we were harboring their fugitive. It turns out that Kankri was an outspoken activist in troll society known as The Signless. He was suppose to be hunted down and killed. So naturally, when the trolls found out his whereabouts, they demanded that we give him up, if not the troll army will come and retrieve him themselves.” Bitterly, she laughs.

 

“Of course, our town immediately complied. No one wanted another repeat of the war. However there was a catch, the trolls demanded that they send the humans that harbored the fugitive. The town decided that it was for the good of the town so they sent my mother and Kankri. They couldn’t send me. I was too young, too unaware. The town went to extreme lengths to allow me to live, even so far as faking my documents. I am extremely grateful to each and every one of town members.” She smiles genuinely. Tears escape her eyes.

 

“I heard that they made a public spectacle of him that they tortured him. Sometimes I would have nightmares at night. I would hear him crying, calling them to stop. He would be strapped to a rock, metal cuffs burning his wrists. I would see my mother begging them to stop, before they killed her right in front of him.” She’s crying softly.

 

            Karkat feels a wave of pity hit him and he awkwardly pats her. Eventually, her sobs subside into quiet whimpers. He lets her stay in his arms for a while. Time passes, and she gently pushes him off. “We need to get going.” Kanaya seems embarrassed from her display.

            They decide to go back the way they came and through the other hallway. The two walk in comfortable silence and Karkat notices that Kanaya stands closer to him now. Eventually they reach a room with a statue in the middle. The statue has multiple hands and each hand holds a gem, all different colors. Karkat watched all the gems, but the one that was bright red seems to call to him. He grimaces. Of course, the universe would get a laugh out of making every fucking thing pertaining to the hated color.

            Steeling himself, Karkat touches the gem and feels energy rush through his entire body, coursing through his blood. It burns. He realizes that this is too much for him to take at this point, but he can’t pull away. It’s like the gem is a magnet and he is some sort of ferromagnetic material. Kanaya grabs him by the shoulders and yanks him back.

 

“Are you alright?” She asks alarmed. He couldn’t even answer her properly as his head is still spinning. After everything finally settles down and he feels himself less dizzy, he answers her.

 

“I…I don’t... what happened…” He can still feel the surge of power beneath his skin; if Kanaya didn’t yank him away, he thinks that maybe he would have lost control of himself. For some reason, that scares him.

 

“When Rose and I touched those gems, we discovered our powers. But you seemed overwhelmed by the gem.”

 

“Of fucking course. This universe just loves hating on me. I guess I can’t blame it, since I’m an useless shit stain on the underwear of the all-powerful universe.” 

 

"Yes, the 'useless shit-stain' that saved my life."

 

"Let me wallow in my self-hatred in peace..." Staying true to his word, he tries to keep up.

 

            Unfortunately for him, he can’t stop shaking and his wrist started to ache. He gives up and just lays on the ground. It must be the aftereffects of the gem. Kanaya patted him gently, until his body can function again. There is no question now; they are moirails, at least in Karkat's mind. This is fucking weird. How does one go about coping with interspecies romance? This is the one thing in his life that he hoped wouldn't be "mutated". Life never goes easy on Karkat. No it can’t be laid out nice and neat for him. Then Karkat realizes that Kanaya might not even want him as a moirail. Not that he would blame her, fuck just look at him. He’s just a worthless piece of shit, what can he do? He can’t even fucking touch a gem without being completely overwhelmed by it!

 

“Do you notice your powers?” Kanaya interrupts his thoughts. Karkat shakes his head. After the initial after-shocks wear off, he didn’t feel anything. “That is peculiar… Not even a feeling.”

 

“All I fucking felt was being overwhelmed by a fucking gem!” Karkat tries to concentrate on something, anything, but nothing happened.

 

“I see… This is indeed strange, are you sure you are one of the elements?” He shows her his tattoo.

 

“Does this look fake to you?” She shakes her head.

 

“It is rather authentic…” Karkat can’t help but feel how much more open she is now. It’s like a switch just turned on and now she is the nicest, most docile human he could ever have the fortune of meeting. “Well, since you didn’t lose your life, after touching the crystal. So that must count for something.”

 

“Wait, you were going to let me die! Fuck. I thought we were over the whole trust thing.”

 

“No, Karkat, I believed you were telling the truth so there was no need to worry you.”

 

“A heads up would have been nice, Kanaya!” For some reason, Karkat can’t stay angry with her. Maybe it had something to do with the gentle smile on her face.

 

“Sorry, I will be sure to warn you of the possibility of impending doom next time. For now, we should focus on getting out of here.”

 

            Karkat stands a little bit unsteady. Kanaya stands nearby in case he falls. They make their way back to the entrance, Karkat leaning a little bit on Kanaya the whole way. They exit and are greeted by the villagers. Standing in front are Dave, Terezi, and Rose. Rose runs to meet Kanaya and pulls her into a hug. While Dave and Terezi approach Karkat. Terezi giggles and flutters around him. Dave rubs Karkat’s hair and pats his back. Karkat scowls and yells at them. It feels normal… but the mayor clearing his throat interrupts them.

 

“Kanaya.” She turns toward the mayor.

 

“He touched the crystal.”

 

“Did anything strange happen?”

 

“No, but he survived.”

 

“If the troll doesn’t realize his power how can we be sure he is genuine?” Rose interjects this time.

 

“Mayor, if you will allow, may I provide some input.”

 

“Of course, Rose. You’ve always been wise beyond your years, I don’t see how this will differ now.”

 

“Well, Karkat’s abilities are… special. They are still latent and need to be activated by some sort of trigger. You see the gem isn’t the trigger because the gem only works for Karkat if he already realizes his power. For him, the gem is like a ‘power-up’ if you will. It gives his element the boost he needs to reach his full potential. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves now. Karkat hasn’t realized his abilities yet.” As if reading Karkat's mind, she explains further. "Karkat, you're most likely wondering why Terezi and Dave have their powers, correct?" He nods. "Well, their are some who don't need those gems to realize their powers."

 

“Did you feel overpowered when you touched the gem?” He nods. Rose returns her gaze to the mayor. “He simply hasn’t discovered his powers yet.”

 

The mayor seems unconvinced. Rose continues. “If he should be a fraud, I will personally dispose of him. You have witnessed my power and surely you know I am a woman of my word.” The villagers are apprehensive, but they trust Rose. The mayor sighs and allows Karkat to go free.

 

“However, if he stays in this town, wherever he should travel, a guard must accompany him. If the guard doesn’t report back or some other disaster happens, then he will be deemed a threat and killed on the spot.”

 

“Wait a motherfucking second!” All heads turn to Karkat. “What if the guards decide to harass and injure me? Or what if they set me up?” Dave and Terezi step in.

 

“Look, Kitkat, we got your back. We’ll make sure that the guards are well-behaved.”

 

“Yeah, Karkles, if they should get out of line, I will discipline them myself.” He rolls his eyes.

 

“Not sure what a small dragon fairy and a human with shades can do against thirty guards.”

 

“You can do a damn lot, if you can control minds and time.” Dave winks at Karkat and puts his hand on his shoulder as if reassuring him.

 

“What the fuck ever. Did you forget that your powers have a backlash? Did you forget that if you use your powers too much you are gifted with exhaustion and or death?”

 

“Karkitten, is it really a good idea to give away our weaknesses like that. You know now the guards will come in the middle of the murder us in our sleep. Great job Kar, if I die this is all thanks to you.”

 

“As if you’re going to die, did you forget about your…” Dave tightens his grip on Karkat’s shoulder. “…um..." Karkat searches for the right word. "...fighting prowess?” Dave leans in close to Karkat’s ear.

 

“Stop giving away my 'special condition'. There are ears all around us.” He whispers. Dave then blows softly into Karkat’s ear causing him to yelp. Karkat pushes Dave roughly away. Karkat almost didn't catch Dave's smirk. That douche enjoys messing with him!

 

“What the hell was that?” Dave shrugs and completely changes the subject.

 

“Hey, you know it’s getting late maybe we should find a place to crash. Rose, you know any good places?” Karkat hates his ears for being so sensitive. Entirely against his will, the tips of his ears turn a light pinkish color.

 

“You may stay in our humble home for the time being.”

 

“Cool, well we better going then.”

 

            The villagers watch cautiously as the group leave. Karkat could feel their eyes on his back as he walks away. Karkat can't wait for this nightmare to be over.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was thinking Kanaya didn't say anything about Karkat looking like her brother earlier because she doesn't want to be reminded of those memories (and I'm kind of making this up as I go, shhhh, don't tell anyone). Also, Kanaya and Kankri are older than Karkat.


	7. Karkat and Dave Visit the Library

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat and Dave visit the library and other somewhat interesting developments.

         

           Karkat wakes up covered in sweat and breathing abnormally. He struggles against the blanket for a couple of seconds, completely forgetting where he is and falls off the soft, human bed. Upon hitting the floor, he remembers where he is and curses quietly. He sits up and sighs; Karkat knew that without sopor his dreams would be filled with horrors and pain. He clutches his head tightly; thanks to the lack of sleep lately, frequent headaches have been visiting the poor troll.

           With some effort, Karkat stands up and walks to the door. Thankfully, the Rose human had a home large enough for all her guests to receive a room. Opening the intricately designed door, Karkat steps out into the cold hallway. There is no longer an interest in sleep, so he had decided that food is the next best option.

           A faint glow emits from the respite block. Karkat tenses, shit, what if it's a thief? Slowly, Karkat creeps towards the light. Getting into a defensive stance, he stalks to the nearest corner and sidles against the wall. Turning his head ever so slightly, he peeked in. A familiar red-clothed figure catches his attention. Growling slightly, he walks in.

 

"Hey, Kitty, how are you? Guessing by those dark disks you are sporting, you didn't sleep very well."

 

    Standing near the thermal hub, he had a glass of yellow liquid. He drinks it with vigor and Karkat cocks an eyebrow.

 

“Oh, right, right... Trolls probably don’t know the Nectar of the Gods known as apple juice. Man, you guys have been missing out!”

 

          Dave holds his bottle at Karkat as if to give him a taste. The sweet scent of apples assaults his sensitive nose. Dave, despite being a total brainless douche, is right about one thing though; mutants weren’t allowed any sort of delicacy. Among that large list are intoxicatingly sweet substances. For Karkat, he has only had sweets a few times in his life. The berries from the forest are one of those few times. So of course Karkat wants a taste of this deliciously made liquid, just to test if there is some truth behind the whole thing. He swipes at Dave’s hand, but Dave snatches the bottle back.

 

“Ah. Ah. Ah. Kitten, you forgot to say please.” Karkat snarls and jumps for the juice, but alas the sweet substance is just out of his grasp. Goddamn these tall humans...

 

          Karkat swipes at Dave and by accident smacks into the hand with the glass. With a loud crack, the glass breaks into miniscule pieces causing the juice to slosh and splash onto their feet. At the contact of the cold liquid, Karkat jumps back.

 

“What the fuck, Kar? That was perfectly good apple juice. Why’d you have to go and do that? It was innocent! It didn’t do anything to you. It’s like you’re accusing the apple juice of murder when it was innocent but you send it to jail anyway and now it’s gone, slipped away into the crevices of the floor. Rest in peace, apple juice. Rest in peace. You will always be remembered.” Dave is on his knees scooping the golden liquid in his hands and letting it slip through as though it was sand. It is then that Kanaya enters.

 

“May I inquire as to what happened?” One of her eyebrows is raised.

 

“Fuck, it’s nothing. Just the stupidity of the douchebag in front of me, it’s contagious. You better run, Maryam, or else his stupidity will catch on to you and you will succumb to his human idiocy. Hurry, Maryam or you’ll find yourself losing the few intelligent thoughts you have left.” Kanaya rolls her eyes at Karkat.

 

“Naw, don’t worry, Kan. Karkat’s just a dick. Nothing's new. I still can’t believe he’d go so far as to spill the delicious nectar that the horror terrors would give up their horrors and terrors in order to get a taste. ” Karkat punches Dave on the shoulder and Kanaya shakes her head.

 

“Please, let’s be civilized peo...um... trolls and men here. Rose, Terezi, and I would like to get some sleep. It has been a long, almost unforgiving night.” She sighs and rubs her head.

 

“I’m sorry Kanaya, I'm sorry that I have these nightmares that not even the queen of horror terrors themselves dream. I'm sorry for the fact that trolls are naturally more nocturnal and most of all I'm sorry for not being used to your sad human excuses for a recuperacoon!"

 

          His voice doesn't even faze her anymore as she continues to give him a stern, disapproving look that was borderline motherly. 

 

"Karkat, I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable," She sounds sincerely apologetic. "...but you need to realize that the world does not revolve solely around you. I would advise the both of you to do something for the time being that is relatively more quiet and less disturbing.”

 

“Sorry to inform you, Kanaya, but Rose’s house doesn’t really have much. I mean the TV’s channel is limited to vampires and wizards and the internet is slow enough for me to fall asleep... I can’t even post my shitty comic online. It’s so slow, I’m sure even the sloth can move faster than the computer can go to the next web page.” Kanaya sighs softly and thinks for a moment before smiling.

 

“Ah, I know. I think the best place for the two of you is the library.”

 

          Both the troll and the boy in shades look at each other for a moment before looking back at Kanaya.

 

“Kanaya, it’s the middle of the night.” Kanaya pats Dave’s shoulder.

 

“Dave, it’s quite alright. Aranea enjoys working late in the library. Many times when Rose and I can’t sleep we go to the library to read. We’ve went there so many times now that Aranea just lets us in if she is there. I’m almost certain she is once again absorbed in her nightly readings. Just tell her that I sent you and she is sure to let you in.”

 

          Dave was about to protest, but once again Kanaya’s motherly stare is enough to sedate him. She grabs a piece of paper and writes directions for them to follow. After receiving the paper and cleaning up the earlier mess, Kanaya comes back in with two hoodies. She hands the red one to Dave and the black one to Karkat.

 

“I’m sorry, Karkat, but that is the smallest size we have.” 

 

          Karkat dons the hoodie and sees that the sleeves were covered his hands and that the hoodie stops at his thighs. Pulling at the sleeves, he brings the hood up and over to cover his horns. It's nice to have clothes that were riddled with holes and rips and covered in dirt and grime. Despite the bagginess of the clothing, he could feel something in the right pocket. Reaching in, he discovers his red gem with a long black loop of string attached to it. He hoops the string around his neck. In a flash of light, Karkat is back to being a human. Karkat looks at Kanaya appreciatively and the corners of her mouth lift ever so slightly. She waves the two of them off and they leave.

          On their way out, they see the guards fast asleep, slumping against the threshold. Dave leaves a note detailing their whereabouts, so as to not cause a town panic again.

          They soon reach the library. It had to be; no other building would have a book right above the entrance and two large, stone lions sitting in front as if they were guarding the building. Luckily for the mismatched duo, the doors and windows are glass so the librarian, or who can be assumed to be Aranea, is in full view. Her head is bowed, a smile plastered on her face as she flips the page. Her white, almond-shaped glasses and shoulder length hair shape her face nicely. Dave gently knocks on the glass to get her attention and Karkat taps his foot in impatience, but the girl is too immersed in her book to pay them any attention. Once again, Dave taps his knuckles to the see-through glass. No dice. Damn that girl really enjoys her books.

          Dave and Karkat shuffle their feet awkwardly. They wait a few more minutes hoping she would glance up at them, but of course nothing can disturb her from her book. When it seems like all hope is lost and Dave and Karkat were going to leave bored, a tall girl walks from the shadows, scaring Karkat. Slouching slightly, she has a menacing grin on her face. She brushes her short bangs out of her face and drags her braids as she strides over to where they stand. She had an air of confidence that said she was better than everyone.

          Karkat grimaces, another human that’s taller than him. It’s bad enough that he’s the shortest out of all the trolls (yes even the female trolls), but Karkat has to be shorter than the average human as well. The only thing he can ever hope to beat someone in is his ability to lead that is if for once Troll Fortune decides to actually give him a break for once. Karkat knows that with his indispensible amount of bad luck, Karkat will probably end up fucking things up.

          When Karkat stops his inner monologue of hatred, he notices that the girl, quite like the douchebag next to him, is wearing some type of eyewear. Are those pink goggles? Pink fucking goggles and fuchsia lips... It hits him hard and uncomfortable like a kick to the digestive sac. She looks just like the Batterwitch, except the humanoid version of her. Holy fuck... Just the likeness is enough to make him want to puke out the contents of breakfast, if he had one.

 

“What the glubbin’ shell are you buoys doing here?” Fucking fish puns. She does them too! Is it even possible to have such a likeness? Maybe she is the Batterwitch in disguise.

 

“Well, we can ask you the same thing. For all you know, we are perfectly normal bystanders who just happen to stand here as you are walking through.” She raises her pierced eyebrow. Dave has the same blank face, while Karkat has an expression akin to fear.

 

“I’m jus’ here ta sea my frond.” She shrugs her shoulders and jangles her bracelets as if the sound is enough to alleviate the tension. “I’ve tol’ ya my business, now tell me yours before I gut ya’.” It is Karkat that speaks.

 

“Look lady, we don’t want any fucking problems, all we’re here to do is go into the library to fucking read a book. Do you have a problem with two semi-intelligent life-forms going into a library at the early mornings to read some dumbass books?” The girl smiles wider; her sharp teeth make her look like a shark.

 

“So you buoys wanna talk ta Aranea. Well, you’re in luck ‘cuz I have a key ta get in da library. Aranea is usually too into her books ta even sea you.” She grabs the said keys out of her pocket and twirls it on her finger with practiced precision.

 

          The girl in sweatpants and a black T-shirt walks pass the Karkat and Dave and opens the glass door. It opens easily as if to make way for her. She strides in and immediately walks to the girl in blue. Dave walks in a little precariously, while Karkat trails behind him. They enter the pleasantly warm library. It seems the girl in pink had told Aranea of her guests. Aranea seems confused and the girl in pink is more defensive as Dave and Karkat continue to study the two.

 

“I thought you two were fronds of Aranea, but she said she’s never sean any of you before.”

  
“Kanaya sent us because she wanted some beauty sleep. Can’t have her getting wrinkles from not sleeping enough now can we? That’s not the gentleman thing to do. Well, I’m the gentleman and the human next to me is more like a raging five year old.” He points at Karkat and Karkat smacks his finger out of his face.

 

“Fuck you, ass wipe. I’m the best goddamn gentle… uh human that you’ve ever laid your ocular orbs on. Well, I can’t blame you since half the time those damn tinted ocular-wear block your sight. It’s no surprise that your eyesight is probably worse than a rainbow drinker beast’s sight.” Aranea frowns at Karkat's strange use of language, but says nothing.

 

“Oh hell no, bro, you do not make fun of these shades. These are one of a kind; you only wish you could have something as nice as these on your face. You only wish you had something this cool. I mean these things are vintage, man, limited time edition special.” Dave seems legitimately upset with Karkat’s comment. Even with his cool kid façade, Karkat can tell by the slight change in tone that Karkat had just walked into red flag territory. Any sudden moves can mean the end for him.

 

“Shouty McShouts and Mr. Try Hard shut the shell up and go look for your damn books. By the way, sorry to say, Shouty o’er here is much cooler than you.” She sighs dramatically and places her hand over her heart. “Damn is he cooler than you.”

 

“Meenah!” So the blue girl finally speaks.

 

“What is it Aranea?”

 

“Stop, you’re making our guests uncomfortable.”

 

“No way, Shouty loves me!” She looks at Karkat as if to confirm this.

 

“I’m sorry…um… Meenah human, but I don’t know you enough to be flushed.” She coos. Walking until she is in front of him, she squeezes his cheeks. He growls and snaps at her. She smiles mischievously and pushes her sharp nail against his nose. “Stop! I’m not some damn pet for you to play with.”

 

“Meenah, please stop messing with them.”  She laughs and actually listens to Aranea for once and stops poking him. He rubs his nose gratefully. “Kanaya sent you, right?” Both the boys nod and Aranea smiles and pushes her glasses up with her index finger. “If Kanaya sent you, then I will allow you into the library. However, there are a couple of rules you must follow. First…” Meenah quickly places her hand against Aranea’s mouth.

 

“Rule 1: Don’t trash da books. Rule 2: If you check out a book, don’t return it late. Rule 3: No rough housing. Now get, before Aranea drowns you in words.” Aranea pulls Meenah’s hand away and almost screams.

 

“MEENAH!”

 

“Sorry, Aranea.” Meenah  grins childishly at Aranea and pats her shoulder in a calming gesture. The girl sighs and calms down.

 

“It’s fine… Well, enjoy yourshellves... I mean yourselves.”

 

            Karkat wanders for a bit, until he finds the romance section. He almost trips from seeing the familiar romance novels. Sure, human romances are more simplistic and less interesting than troll romances, but they are still a joy to read. No matter what the species, romance is romance and to someone like Karkat who loves the nuances of relationships, the psychology behind each decision made by the male or female, and the tension of each individual character as they come to grips with their feelings. Sighing contently, he picks up a novel and finds a nearby seat. After assuring the seat is at the maximum comfort level, Karkat opens the novel and begins.

            At the climax of the book, Karkat feels a poke to his side. Trying to ignore the culprit, he continues the book, once again imagining the scene. He grits his teeth as the poke comes once again. Nope, it’s nothing, just the wind. Karkat moves a little more to the side, but the finger follows him like a lost puppy. He smacks the book on the desk.

 

“The fuck do you want? Of course, a panless, singled-celled nooklicker would have the gall to bother me at the best fucking part.” His voice reaches a crescendo near the end.

 

“Calm down, princess.”

 

“CALM DOWN! I WILL NOT CALM DOWN! NOT WHEN A MOTHERFUCKING BULGESUCKER LIKE YOU, THINK YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO DISTURB ME, WHEN I’M FINALLY, FINALLY FUCKING HAPPY, CONTENT IF YOU WILL. THIS CONTENTNESS ONLY COMES ONCE EVERY SWEEP AND YOU WILL NOT EVEN LET ME EXPERIENCE IT TO ITS FULLEST. YOU FUCKER!” Karkat actually grabs Dave by his collar and pulls him so that Dave is face to face with Karkat; but much to Karkat’s chagrin, Karkat had to tiptoe to even grab his collar. Dave holds up his hands in a placating way.

 

“Look man, no hard feelings, but you were reading a sissy book. Not the type of book you should overreact about. I mean come on, you sound like one of those teenage girls who go crazy over boy bands.”

 

“DON’T FUCKING COMPARE ME TO YOUR DAMN FEMALE COUNTERPARTS!”

 

“Well, you do mood swing like one, you enjoy shitty romance novels like one, and you’re touchy like one. What do you expect?”  

 

“YOU CHAUVINISTIC PIG! GO AWAY, BEFORE I RIP YOUR INTENSTINES FROM YOUR BODY AND STUFF THEM UP YOUR WASTE CHUTE.” Karkat swears he sees the corners of Dave’s mouth lift ever so slightly.

 

“Is that a challenge?”

 

            Karkat glares at him and bares his teeth. Damn blunt human teeth; they probably made him look like a joke. Karkat pulls his fist to swing, when Meenah and Aranea show up.

 

“Stop!  Please no horsing around in the library! If this continues, I will throw you both out and take away all book privileges.” Karkat falters before releasing his grip on Dave’s shirt. Karkat doesn’t want to get in trouble a second time, besides he wants to finish that goddamn book!

 

            Ignoring his dissatisfaction, Karkat slumps back into his seat. Dave pulls up a chair next to him and sits down. Karkat hisses softly, other than that he pays Dave no mind. As Karkat is reading, he hears a voice reading with him.

 

“The girl gasped and groaned… What the hell are you reading, Karkat? Holy shit, I didn’t think you’d be into humans in that way.” A red blush spreads across Karkat’s face.

 

“Goddamn it, Dave! Let me read in peace! Why do you have to be such an insufferable prick! It’s not like this even has anything remotely close to pailing! Fuck! Just leave me the fuck alone to my own damn shit. Let me roll in my own shit in peace, Dave.”

 

“Fine Kitkat, I leave you in your stink and peacefulness, but you owe me a favor for later.” Did Karkat ever mention how much he hates this human? Well, Karkat hates this douche. He absolutely can’t stand his antics. Fuck this guy. One favor can’t be so bad, if he’ll leave him in to himself for a while. He hasn’t been this immersed in a book in a long time; despite the somewhat stale romance, it’s still interesting how the characters react.

 

“What the fuck ever. Just go away and let me read!”

 

          Giving Dave a shove, Karkat goes back to reading. Assuming Dave left, Karkat continues with his book.  Karkat finally finishes the book and he hides a small smile with the book. Even though the ending is predictable, the predictability is nostalgic for a romance expert such as Karkat.

 

“I see you’re finally done. I found something really interesting while you were reading the ‘novel’.” Karkat sighs and glances at the human. Dave is holding a large book in his hand. How does Dave even know when Karkat finished the book?

 

“The fuck is that? Is that a damn dictionary? If that’s a dictionary, let me congratulate you, you’ve finally matured enough to realize that you’re a dumbass and take responsibility.”

 

“No, it’s something better… It’s…” Dave pauses for a dramatic effect.

 

“Spit it out, before I die from your shenanigans. Yes, your idiocy is so bad that it can kill even the most intelligent of creatures.”

 

“Kitten, I wouldn’t want you to die now. The knight in shining armor shouldn’t let the princess down.”

 

“Go to hell, Strider.” Ignoring Karkat, Dave continued.

 

“Well, it seems to be a book detailing the Skaia Legend!” The troll’s mouth was opened in a wide “O” shape.

 

“Well don’t keep me fucking waiting, what the fuck does it say?”

 

“Eh… I don’t know. It’s in a language that I don’t understand.”

 

“Let me see that!” Karkat swipes at the book and takes hold of it. He flips to the first page and realizes he can’t read a word. It’s not even in Alternian. “Are you sure it’s not in some human language? I’ve heard stories about how humans have like one-hundred different languages or some shit like that.”

 

“I don't think it's in a human language, at least not to my knowledge. Crabs, you know what this means right?”

 

“It would aid in our adventure immensely that is if we can fucking decipher it. Where did you even find that shit?”

 

“You could say I had a gut feeling.”

 

“That doesn’t explain shit.”

 

“It’s not supposed to. C’mon Kat, let me be mysterious for a few minutes.”

 

“No fuck you.”

 

“You’ll find out eventually.”

 

“Oh no. Oh no! Oh hell fucking no! How dare you pull this cryptic shit on me!”

 

“Just let it go, Kitten. We got to show this to Rose. C’mon!”

 

          Before Karkat can say another word, Dave is already rushing towards the door. Maybe it was his urgency, maybe it was something else, but Karkat follows Dave and stops questioning the coincidence for now. Surprisingly, Aranea let Dave take the book without much resistance.

          As they were rushing through town, Karkat notices that the sun is just beginning to show its yellow glow above the mountains. Still not quite used to his human body, Karkat turns away from the sun. Seeing Dave’s towering form in front of him is enough to give Karkat the energy to sprint up to catch up to him. He may be short, but Karkat would rather not add “slow” to his growing list of faults.

          Soon the desired house is seen and Dave busts into the house. The guards awoke from all the commotion and looked like they were going to attack Karkat, but Dave gives each of them a pat and the guards visibly relax. It also helps that they read the note after Dave pointed at it. Still the guards never take their eyes off of Karkat and Karkat can’t help pulling his hood closer over his face. Karkat hated the way they looked at him like he was a pest to be exterminated. Giving them a death glare, Karkat walks through the threshold and spots Rose. Creepily, Rose seems to have known exactly when they would show up.

 

“Good to see you boys up and early.”

 

“Hey, Rose, we found this in the library.” Dave hands her the book. “What do you make of it?”

 

“Ah, I was looking for this particular book, though I can't quite read it yet. We need to enlist a help of a friend for that. Thank you, Dave. Where did you find it?”

 

“I found it in the library.” She gives him a questioning look, but asks no further questions.

 

“So that’s where the book was teleported. It seems the last Void Player had hid it well. Who knew it was right under my nose all this time?” She smiles softly. “Kanaya?” A call came from the kitchen.

 

“Yes, Rose?”

 

“Be a dear and make breakfast for the boys.” Karkat clears his throat. “Oh, excuse me, the gentle troll and gentleman are hungry for some of your delicious cooking.”

 

            Rose wasn’t joking, when she said Kanaya’s cooking was delectable. Despite tasting foreign and strange, Karkat can’t get enough of the delicious wonder. He stuffs himself with mouthful after mouthful until a small bump developed where his flat stomach used to be. He burps happily and Kanaya scrunches her nose. Terezi, who had floated down earlier, laughs.

 

“Karkat, please, where are your manners?” He huffs, but under her scrutinizing gaze, he doesn't say anything yet. She is worse than his lusus.

 

“Fucking excuse me. I mean it’s certainly my fault that I haven’t had a good meal in the last month. It’s totally wrong of me to express my gratitude and happiness with a small noise.” She shakes her pointer finger at him as if scolding a young child.

 

“Karkat, please, do not play the guilt card on me. You’ve already done it enough already.” She smiles and reaches over to hesitantly pat his hand. “And thank you for complimenting my cooking.” Rose chuckles quietly and grasps the hand that isn’t patting Karkat.

 

“Kanaya, darling, you would make a wonderful mother.” The couple smiles endearingly at each other.

 

            Terezi and Dave make gagging sounds at the background and Karkat looks around embarrassed by the sudden display of affection. If there was an outsider looking in, they would see a weird, but happy family. For the large green-suited man, it is immutably disgusting. He can’t wait to destroy their happiness and bring chaos to the world.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lateness! I was hoping to post earlier, but life happens and I get lazy. Anyways hope you enjoyed. 
> 
> Notes:  
> There are more than 6000 distinct languages, at least according to this site:  
> http://www.linguisticsociety.org/content/how-many-languages-are-there-world
> 
> Karkat was in his human form when interacting with Aranea (and Meenah) because he didn't want to scare them. Sure the news of a troll had spread, but it didn't mean that everyone would be accepting towards troll, even if Karkat is an element. 
> 
> Were the guards actually bad enough to fall asleep while on duty? Maybe. Maybe not. Rose might have something to do with it.
> 
> Is Dave's ancient book finding skills a coincidence or fate? We'll see.
> 
> Why is there a helpful book anyway? Well, the group before Dave's group wanted to write a book detailing their adventure. That's why. Who knew it would end in tragedy...
> 
> By the way, the reason Meenah has such a likeness to the Condescension is because Meenah admires the Condescension. She enjoys certain qualities of the Condescension and sometimes copies those qualities.
> 
> Why didn't Rose find the book earlier? Timeline shenanigans. It was not hers to find. Even if she looked, she would never find it. It only appears for the right person and at the right time.
> 
> Who is that green guy? I don't know. Maybe we'll find out soon.


	8. Everyone: Buy a Bunch of Shit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title says it all!

Chapter 8:

            After finishing breakfast, Karkat decides to visit the weapons store to check if the sickles are done. Before he goes anywhere though, the guards insist he drops the human disguise because they don’t want Karkat blending in with the crowd and losing him in the process. Grumbling, Karkat obliges. Karkat sighs joyfully; despite hating his troll self, he hates the human disguise more. The guards trail behind him, while Dave and Terezi are by his side. Even though Karkat will never admit it to either of them, he does feel a little bit safer with them by his side.

           As Karkat walks through the usually loud courtyard, he notices all the hateful glances on the faces of passing villagers. At the last minute, Karkat notices a red, flying object. Luckily for Karkat, he ducks in time and the object smashes into the ground. It splatters at once spreading it's juices all over the floor.

 

“Go back to your troll brethren, you monster!” Karkat hisses in the general direction of the attacker.

 

            The nearby villagers try to sedate the man who insulted Karkat, but he will have none of it. “Stop, he’s one of the elementals.”

 

“I don’t fucking care if he’s the fucking ambassador! He’s a fucking troll, or did you fuckers forget that simple fact? They fucking kill over there as a sport! If you guys let him, he’ll eventually kill every one of us.”  Dave grabs the man’s collars. Much to Dave’s advantage, he is taller than the man.

 

“Shut the fuck up, you think you’re a vigilante, don’t you? That troll over there hasn’t killed or harmed any of us yet, what makes you think he will now? I was alone with that troll multiple times and there has not been any harm to me physically. Do you really think all trolls are the same? Do you think that all trolls are menaces and monsters? In the war, both sides had casualties. You have no fucking right.” The man spits in Dave’s face.

 

“Fucking troll lover!”

           

Karkat is surprised at how well Dave has kept his composure and the fact that Dave is actually defending him. Even after the man spit on him, Dave casually wipes it with the back of his hand. Dave lets out a deep sigh, before turning away from the man.

 

“What can’t take the truth, you little pussy?” Dave turns back at the man.

 

“No, I just realized that someone with a brain as small as yours is not worth my time. I mean my time is much better spent on useful endeavors that will actually make me cooler than fighting with a stubborn fuckass such as yourself.” With anothergraceful pivot, Dave is back to facing Karkat and Terezi. As he is walking towards them, the man rushes at Dave.

 

"Dave, flash step him!" Terezi screams.

 

            Within a moment, Dave disappears from sight. Karkat catches the sight of his red cape, but nothing more. Suddenly, he is behind the man.

 

“Next time you want to mess with someone, don’t make the mistake of messing with me or my friends.”

 

          With that, Dave smacks the hilt of his sword onto the man’s neck. Within seconds, the man crumples to the floor. Dave sheathes his swords and continues his trek back to Terezi and Karkat. To Karkat, it seems like Dave is finally living up to his cool kid reputation, but it's ruined when Dave trips a little on his way back for irony's sake (or so he said later).

 

            It is so quiet that someone could drop a penny and everyone there would be able to hear the sound. But then just as suddenly, the town goes back to their business and someone moves the man somewhere else. The guards go back to watching Karkat.

 

“You alright, Karkitten?” Still in shock, Karkat doesn’t answer right away. When he can finally react to the situation, Karkat yells at Dave.

 

“Why the fuck would you provoke him? That was dumb even for you. What if it creates a town panic again? What would you do then?”

 

“If you’re worried about that, don’t be, Kitten. You have the Knight of Time by your side. As if I would let them lay a finger on my princess.” He goes so far as to wink at Karkat.

 

“You’re being surprisingly straightforward, aren’t you, Dave?” Terezi chuckles lightly.

 

“Fuck both of you. I can handle myself without some dumbass deadweight.”

 

“Kitty that hurts my little, girlish heart.” He places his hands on his heart and gives a little gasp.

 

“Good, I hope that pain will be a fucking reminder. I want you to know how much this pains me to be around you for extended periods of time.” Dave flash steps again, until he is in front of Karkat. He flicks Karkat on the forehead.

 

“Kitkat, I deserve at least a ‘thank you’ and at most a kiss.”

 

“How about a big whopping ‘Fuck you’!” Karkat walks away from Dave and towards the weapons store but the truth is Karkat is a little pleased with the way Dave defended him (a little, Karkat meant next to nonexistent).

 

“Well, Kar, I thought you would have liked to take it slow. Damn my beautiful bod, you just can’t get enough can you. You won’t be satisfied until you see this Adonis without his clothes, will you?” Karkat almost chokes on his own saliva. Yes, even saliva is dangerous, when Karkat is around exceedingly stupid humans.

 

“No one wants to see that pale ass of yours! Fuck, I don’t even know if there is an ass under there. I mean it’s practically nonexistent!”

 

“Wow, Karkles, way to be subtle about checking out Dave’s pale butt.” The fire on his face burns at an even higher temperature.

 

            The trio goes on talking about butts and the existent or non-existent affections of the boy with shades and the troll. Finally, Karkat reaches his desired destination. Just in time, too; Karkat doesn’t think his forehead can take anymore face palm combos. One guard stands outside the store, while the other one enters with Dave, Terezi, and Karkat. Upon entering the store, Karkat already feels the animosity coming from the store owner.

 

“Do you have the sickles?”

 

“I don’t know how I feel about giving weapons to a potential threat. I’m surprised that the mayor and your guards even allow this.”

 

“I don’t think the fucking mayor or guards care as long as I’m out of their stringy, human hair faster. Besides if I really was going to fucking kill you guys, I don't have to trek all the way to the fucking alter. I could just spite you by killing myself.” Chuckling darkly, the store owner grins at Karkat. 

 

 "The troll has a mouth as well as a head, what do you know?"

 

“Well, the quicker I get those sickles, the faster I will be out of your fucking lives.”

 

“No can do, troll. These are for someone else.”

 

“WHAT!”

 

“Look, troll, I want to get you out of this town faster, but I promised them to some spunky shrimp.”

 

          Who the fuck is this “shrimp” the owner is talking about? Karkat contemplates who on Earth would visit a weapons store to buy sickles and he came up with one answer, himself. Karkat sighs, of course, he came by the store as a human and now he’s a troll; it’s no wonder the store owner wouldn’t be able to make the connection. Karkat doesn’t know if the best course of action is to reveal his human form, but then he realized that in the end it doesn’t even matter, since at most he is going to stay another few days. Before the store owner can inquire what Karkat is doing, he is once again enveloped in a light. Fuck, Karkat feels so weird in this human skin, it never fits quite right. Like he just shed several layers of clothing, what more he realizes that the human form does nothing to alleviate his height problem.

 

“Holy shit…”

 

“You owe me those sickles.”

 

“Fuck… you were a troll?”

 

“Thanks for stating the obvious. I’m not sure what the giveaway was. Was it that sudden light that swallowed me whole, or was it the sudden change in appearance?” The store owner grimaces.

 

“Shut the fuck up, kid.” Even though it is only a change in appearance, the owner already seems more comfortable speaking with Karkat. “Look, take the sickles and leave. If word comes back and you harm anyone in this village, and I repeat anyone, I will personally hunt you down and kill you. I don’t fucking care if you’re an elemental; if Kanaya or Rose are harmed in any way, shape, or form, you will regret the day you ever set foot in this village.”

 

          Karkat says nothing and walks to grab the sickles. Pink, green and white bands decorated the blade. He holds them both in his hands and already, he is filled with nostalgia and satisfaction. The craftsmanship is splendid. Even though the owner is an overprotective fucker, he knows his way around crafting weapons. Karkat’s slender finger traces the shape edge of the sickle. He allows himself one smile as he caressed the beautiful weapons.

          Karkat spots the leather sheathes that is supposed to hold his weapons. He traces the rough texture with his hand, before grabbing it and attaching it to his waist. Then, he gingerly places his new sickles into the holsters like they were newly born grubs. An overwhelming sense of gratitude washes over him. Against his better judgment, he begrudgingly thanks the owner. The owner scrunches his face and waves at him dismissively. Taking that as Karkat’s cue to leave, he does so. The others follow close behind.

 

“Kitten, you okay?”

 

“Yeah, why the fuck wouldn’t I be?”

 

“I don’t know... you have this almost wistful look. It’s starting to creep me out. Like it’s so different from your natural grouchy demeanor, you look like you’re an almost approachable guy; maybe even dare I say it, friendly. Seriously, though, what did you do with my Karkat?”

 

“First of all, Strider, I’m not your motherfucking property and will never be. Secondly, I know your think pan has been out of commission lately enough so that cobwebs have begun forming at the corners, but maybe, just maybe, I don’t want any of you humans to approach me. I mean fuck on multiple occasions, a spear was pointed at my back and even now those fucking guards follow me around like bark beasts. Thirdly, fuck you, I do whatever the hell I want.”

 

“Karkitten, I think you’ve used enough ‘Dave you have such a small think pan blah blah blah’ to last a lifetime. I mean if I got small amount of change for every time you called me dumb, I would be a very rich man. I mean, fuck, I would be one of those famous fuckers living in those beautiful one man mansions. You know the ones that are dreamed about with two amazing pools and a hundred rooms.”

 

“Wow, Dave. There better be a wonderful room full of colors just for me!” Terezi exclaims.

 

“Of course, Rez, there will be a room filled with every color just for you.” Dave rubs her hair affectionately with his pointer finger.

 

“The bed has to be red, candy red, like Karkles delicious blood here!” She licks her lips and flutters closer to Karkat.

 

“What the fuck, Terezi, I just got the chills that’s how fucking nasty your statement was. I think I’m nauseous just thinking about your wet appendage anywhere near my body! Besides I thought all humans bled the same color, go fuck with Strider!” She pouts at Karkat.

 

“But Karkles, your blood is especially appealing to my nostrils!” She cackles and glides back to her spot on top of Dave’s shoulder.

 

          For the rest of the way back to Rose’s house, the trio bickers like siblings, not quite hostile, but not completely in good humor. They tease each other’s shortcomings much like siblings would, but in a way that is not meant to be taken in complete seriousness. They eventually reach the house and make their way inside. Rose and Kanaya are in the kitchen studying a map. Right next to the map is the book Dave had found in the library. Rose motions for them to sit down and the group follows her instructions. Once seated, Rose begins her explanation.

 

“This book here shall be very helpful in our journey. I propose that we decipher it, but in order to do so we must travel to there.” She points to the specified place in the map. Karkat assumes that the brownish color symbolizes land. “We are here.” She points to a location far away from their destination. “But in order to get there we must travel through the Centaur Forest and then through Arachnid Caves.” She drags her finger from their supposed location to their destination. After giving everyone a moment of thought, Terezi and Rose stare at Karkat; but when Rose speaks, Rose speaks to everyone. “Are you guys ready?”

 

“Wait; hold up a fucking second here. Before we start this insane journey, we better fucking stock up on supplies. First of all, we need to gather up food, preferably dried, since it’ll last longer and take up less space. Second, would it be too much to ask for a change of clothes, it would be great if I don’t know we don’t look like a bunch of fucking degenerates, besides the clothes make the troll.” Dave interrupts him.

 

“Its trolls, humans, and other miscellaneous magical creatures, come on bro, and is it so hard to remember that there are multiple species in this group.” Karkat continues as if Dave never rudely interrupted him.

 

“Now, thirdly, someone needs to bring some money because money always comes in handy. But I guess that concept is too difficult for one such as Strider to grasp so I’ll put it in simple terms: Money equals more supplies; more supplies equals good. Hopefully, I don’t have to revert back to the Prehistoric Age in order to speak comprehensively to you fuckers.” The rest of the members grunt in agreement and Karkat nods. “Now, this is how it’s going to work. Maryam and Lalonde, since they own a clothing store, will gather up durable clothes and other shit. Pyrope can flutter around town looking for seer things to do. Strider can go fuck himself and I’ll go buy some necessary food and various over-priced items that may or may not help our adventure in the least.”

 

“Karkitten, that’s so sweet of you to leave me to some sweet time by myself. Like for the first time in my life, I feel absolutely appreciated and wanted. Thank you so much, Vantas, you have made my day.”

 

“On second thought, Strider can go jump off a fucking cliff into a pit of poisonous snakes that will hopefully cause his death to be long and painful.” Karkat growls.

 

“Oh, Nubs, always the sweetheart. You’re so kind, you’re just oozing with sugar. Seriously if you don’t get that checked, you might start bleeding sugar. Damn Karkat then you would truly be Rezi’s favorite treat.”

 

“Even if Karkle’s blood wasn’t sweet, this nose of mine would still be ingratiated by Mr. Adorable’s presence.” Cackles fills the air.

 

“Excuse you! I’m bloodthirsty as hell! I’m part of a race so blood thirsty and intellectual that even your human excuses for badasses would be ashamed of how un-badass they are compared to us.”

 

“Dave, I think I just hit Karkat’s ‘I’m a douche button’. How do I turn it off?”

 

“I don’t know Rez. There is a very specially button mashing combo that must be pulled off in order to turn off his self-esteem issues which include potentially smashing the controller in a fit of frustration so I don’t know what to say, Rez. We may never be able to turn off that button.”

 

“Shut the fuck up, the both of you. I may be constipated shit that comes out of the waste chute of a bloated pompous fuckass, but at the very least I don’t annoy the constant shit out of myself, constipated or otherwise.”

 

“Oh, Karkles, the irony in that statement is overwhelmingly laughable. Wait until you actually have a conversation with yourself.” The fairy laughs eerily. Karkat sighs.

 

“Let’s just fucking get started.”

 

            Everyone starts their assigned tasks. As Karkat walks out the door, the guards once again follow him like guard dogs except they want to bite the ever living shit out of the troll they are supposed to guard. Dave trails behind as well. For a single second, Karkat can’t help but find that somewhat pathetic and endearing. But the feeling is fleeting and Karkat is glad for that. There is no need for any more fucked up shit to make the journey even harder than has to be.

            Without Karkat ever noticing, Dave appears next to Karkat as though separating and guarding him from the rest of the xenophobic humans all of whom if humanly possible would bathe in Karkat’s blood and string up his intestines in a sickening display of power. For Karkat, this is particularly gruesome and fearful. Following this train of thought any longer will only cause Karkat to spill the contents of his digestive sac next to the gutter, so Karkat concentrates on what articles will be important for this odyssey.

            Upon seeing the marketplace, Karkat counts the amount of money and decides that the cheaper the products the better. He sighs, when did he become the stay home matesprit who are always looking for the best sales or maybe he’s more of those stay home computer addicts who buy everything online. Regardless, these stupid thoughts aren’t getting him any closer to buying the necessary food products. He brushes across his rough bed-head hair and finds that his claws are caught in his tangles. When was the last time he even brushed that chirp-beast’s nest of hair. When was the last time he even cared about what his appearance?

            The strange smells of food assault his nose and the unique scents of perfume waft over to where he stands. Karkat realizes that he has no idea what kind of food the humans eat or even if the food is digestible for him. Of course, this thought occurs only after having a couple of meals with the humans. Fuck, is he such a dumbass!

 

“Strider, what kind of fucking food do humans even eat? Do we even have the same damn diets? What if what’s safe for you isn’t safe for trolls?”

 

“Whoa, whoa, slow down. The Strider Machine can only take one answerable question at a time. For the last two questions, the answer is how the fuck should I know? For the first one, anything that is edible and not poisonous.” Karkat rolls his eyes; he really hates Dave’s purposeful vagueness. Rather than indulging in Dave’s idiocy, Karkat picks up the pace and walks to a nearby meat stand.

 

            A large man with a large knife is seen chopping up unidentifiable meat. Behind him are cages of howling animals all filled with fear. Karkat at this very moment understands fully what it’s like to be nothing more than a beast in the eyes of a butcher. What makes the whole scenario worse are the different types of meat hanging on the hooks. Maybe going straight to the meat stand is not the best idea on his part. With a particularly loud crack, the butcher rests his creepily large knife wedged in the meat and narrows his eyes at the new “customer”.

 

“We don’t serve trolls around these parts.” Dave pushes Karkat aside.

 

“Don’t you worry, the real customer is me. See my little troll here is just curious at all the lovely arrangement of meat you have.”

 

          A low guttural sound fills the air for half a second before Karkat gives up. There’s no point getting mad at this point, all that’s going to happen is no food. Swallowing the immense rage and hate, Karkat steps back behind Dave. Karkat is nothing better than trash that needs to be guarded by a dumb human in shades. In human territory, he is nothing more than garbage and they enjoy making that fact known every other fucking second. The butcher shrugs.

 

“What can I do for you?”

 

            As Dave lists the different slabs of meat the group may need, Karkat contemplates on becoming a vegetarian. He knows few trolls have ever truly succeeded in this form of eating because of the digestive system of trolls. Most trolls require some form of meat to retain their life; however, this is not to suggest they aren’t able to eat vegetation for long periods of time. It is possible but for most trolls they eventually fall victim to a form of as humans call it “scurvy” (what, it’s not Karkat’s fault his hive was so boring, he started looking up different human diseases…) but rather than a lack of vitamin C, trolls would die from a lack of certain nutrients that are found in meat. His thoughts are brought out of his inner troll biology lesson when Dave finishes up and purchases all the necessary meat.  Even with bags of meat, Dave strolls nonchalantly next to Karkat.

 

“What do we need next, leader?” Dave elongates the word “leader” to annoy Karkat.

 

“I don’t fucking know, might as well explore the shitty city, seeing as humans just love me so fucking much. I’m sure they’ll let me walk around in the open while they imagine me eating their wrigglers.”

 

“Well, if you have nothing, then I’ve always wanted to buy something that I never got to buying.”

 

            As though Dave had suddenly transformed into a wriggler again, Dave eagerly makes his way through the marketplace and stops himself at a shop filled with strange gadgets and tubes. Dave picks up some sort of silver, metallic object with holes along the long side. The fuck is that. Dave gives it an experimental blow and Karkat jumps back when a sound suddenly assaults his auricle canals. Dave lets a soft chuckle escape, so soft that no one except Karkat’s sensitive auricle canals heard it.

 

“What the fuck?”

 

“It’s a harmonica, dude. See you blow air into these holes and then they make a beautiful sound much like you did when my hot breath touched your ears.” Karkat’s cheeks immediately heat up revealing a light pink blush against gray toned skin.

 

“Fuck you, asshole! That was uncalled for! That sound was the sound of absolute horror and disgust; it still sends shivers up my torso pillar!”

 

“Whatever you say, Karcrab, you know you love this hot Strider bod.” Striking a pose, Dave wiggles his eyebrows at Karkat.

 

“Never. Not in a million years would I ever come anywhere near you in physical contact. But your repulsive appearance is not the point here, I want to know how the fuck is that…” Karkat points at the rectangular object that Dave is still holding. “…is going to in anyway help in this adventure.”

 

“Have you never thrown any sick beats? Just imagine it, Kar, all of us are going to be sitting in the middle of a beautiful fire roasting marshmallows and all that jazz and then…”

 

“The fuck is a marshmallow?”

 

“Kark, you don’t interrupt the Strider, when he is in the middle of his figurative ifs. The fuck is wrong with you? ANYWAYS, as I was saying, there’d be a fire and smores and then I whip out this baby and boom! I become the beatboxing, musical genius and at the same time soothe everyone’s itch for beautiful sounds.”

 

“Let’s, I don’t know, spend our money on more useful shit! Things that will actually pertain to the survival for our group! Not some dumbass square object with no other functional ability then to make my auricle canals cringe and bleed.”

 

“It’s not like you making music would be any better, in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you trolls play or sing anything.”

 

“Well, yeah, in troll society, anything that isn’t vital to trolls then we usually didn’t indulge in it. The highbloods usually had more appropriate hobbies but lower castes didn’t.”

 

“I thought troll society changed to be more equal.”

 

“Only fucking slightly! It’s not like there was a particularly large change or anything. There still is a fucking caste system and something like that can’t be easily changed! Sure the war and the Sufferer helped to change a little bit so that the lower castes had a fairer chance, but that doesn’t change the feelings of the highbloods! Just because Princess Feferi is trying to pass more laws to prevent future unfairness and injustice between trolls, doesn’t mean fucking shit! You really think that it’s so easy, so simple to change the minds of stubborn trolls! The fucking Condescension and Grand High Blood still watch executions for fucking fun! Sure they might die in the future sweeps and Princess Feferi will take charge of the kingdom, but trolls will always be in a state of discord because it’s not laws that change the minds of idiotic stubborn fleabags; unfortunately, only the stubborn assholes themselves can truly bring forth change in their own prejudiced minds. The other equally long route would be to wait out until all the prejudiced assholes die and then from there change the minds of the younger generation. By that point you and I, well maybe not you, but I would certainly be fodder for the plants so this socially ineptness will go on happening to each and every unfortunate asshole to be born in the lower third of the fucking caste system and even a select _special_ few that aren’t even born in the hemospectrum, until desire finally catches up with change.” Karkat breathes hard after the long rant. Shaking slightly from anger, Karkat tries to calm himself down.

 

            By the time Karkat’s tirade was finally finished, Dave had already bought the harmonica. Karkat groans and rolls his eyes.

 

“Did not a single fucking word break through that thick-skull of yours?”

 

“I was listening quite intently, excuse you. Look, man, life is unfair and it’s understandable to be angry at circumstances that aren’t your fault, but chill, you’re not in troll territory anymore.”

 

“Yeah, it’s fucking worse, I’m in human territory where the prejudice is just as bad or worse for a troll like me. Don’t you fucking get it! I don’t belong there, but I definitely belong here less. There is no place for a mutant and there will never be…”

 

            There is a long silence between the two off them as Karkat stares at the ground, his fists clenching and unclenching. Dave awkwardly pats Karkat’s shoulder and Karkat smacks his hand away.

 

“I don’t need your pity!” He glares into the black reflective mirrors where Dave’s eyes would have been. Dave holds his hands once again in a placating gesture, however, the bags in his hand makes it hard for Karkat to take him seriously. Karkat feels his initial anger subsiding a little. There’s no point in making a bigger fool of himself. “Let’s just go to the next fucking place.”

 

            So the two continue buying useless and useful items for their trip, when it was dusk, they retrace their steps back to Rose’s house. Once Terezi sees them she laughs.

 

“So I’m guessing you guys went out to buy the most useless stuff known to mankind?”

 

“Hahaha… Very funny, Rezi. This…” Dave whips out his harmonica from his pocket. “…is not useless. Come on, Rez. This is the shit. Don’t even try to deny it!”

 

            She shakes her head as if he is crazy. Suddenly, like a police hound tracking the smell of a criminal she floats her way to one of Dave’s bag. Terezi flies into the opening and the sounds of rummaging fill the air. Eventually she comes out with a large, circular object.

 

“So you were the guys who bought this before me. Not that I didn’t already know.”

 

“The fuck do you need that piece of shit for? I mean for fucks sake you can barely carry the damn thing!”

 

“Now, now, my sweet Karkles…” She grins menacingly. “Don’t underestimate the meaning of a seemingly useless item. All the items you bought today whether you know it or not will serve some purpose and this little coin here, will serve its purpose with me.”

 

          Terezi tosses it into the air and it flips a few times before she catches it with both hands. She cackles loudly and grins as though a wriggler who has found its new play thing. Terezi flutters back into the room containing Kanaya and Rose. Dave and Karkat follow behind and gladly set their bags down when they enter. Rose turns around and gives a curt smile before moving aside to display Kanaya putting on the finishing touches to each one of their outfits. There are even ones for Terezi.

            After finishing, Kanaya turns around and gives them an anxious smile. She holds all of the different clothes in her arms and she walks over to each and every one of them starting with Terezi.

 

“This wondrous little red and teal suit is for you. I designed it after your light and love of red. It is durable and comfortable, great for battle as well as great for any casual events.” She picks up a red hood; the hood appears to be an interpretation of a dragon. “And this petit little cape is also for you, I’ve heard from Rose about how much you enjoy role-playing on a daily basis.” She hands all the said clothing to Terezi. She didn’t seem surprised with the gifts, but still smiled when she received them. She approaches Dave next.

 

“For needs and style, I give you these.”

 

          She hands him a red-sleeved shirt with a record in the middle and a black pair of pants. Kanaya then pulls sweatpants, long-sleeved shirt that has a gear in the middle, and a long cape. In Karkat’s eyes, Kanaya picked an awful selection of color and grimaced because of it. Of course, it is red. The raising of the eyebrows and the “o-shaped” mouth tells Karkat that Dave is surprised, but also content with this. Finally, she turns to Karkat.

 

“Karkat, yours is the most difficult to make, since I heard that trolls didn’t have much fashion. I decided to go with the safer approach and made copies of your original costume.”

 

          She hands Karkat exact replicas of his favorite black sweater with his gray sign on it and gray sweatpants. As he stares at the familiar and nostalgic outfit, a small smile graces his feature. Karkat believes he probably looked extremely moronic with his overbite. Karkat’s smile is enough to satisfy Kanaya despite not receiving any verbal confirmation of gratitude. The moment fades as Karkat remembers to take stock of their equipment.

         After a couple of minutes, the table has now turned into a hoarder’s fantasy. The food, of course, is not part of this strange and awkward clutter. Karkat decides the best thing to do is probably keep a list of everything.

 

FRUITY RUMPUS ASSHOLE FACTORY LIST:

  1. SHURIKENS: 10 (STRIDER IS AN IDIOT)
  2. SHITTY SWORDS: 3????? (WHAT THE FUCK?)
  3. HARONICA: 1 (STRIDER IS A DUMBASS)
  4. STRANGE TWO-HEADED COIN: 1 (WITH PYROPE, SO I GUESS THERE ARE ZERO OF THESE THINGS)
  5. BOX OF CHALK: 1 (WHY THE FUCK? WHAT A FUCKING WASTE OF MONEY! IT’S NOT LIKE WE’RE TAKING A LEISURELY STROLL TO A FRIENDS HOME! I’M SURROUNDED BY IDIOTS…)
  6. NOTEBOOKS (YEAH, LET’S ALL WRITE OUR MOST PERSONAL SHIT IN A LITTLE DIARY BECAUSE THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED WHEN TRAVELING ACROSS FORESTS AND MOUNTAINS)
  7.  ROM-COM NOVELS: ENOUGH ( …(:B )
  8.  NEEDLES AND THREAD: I DON’T KNOW THAT DEPENDS ON COLOR AND SIZE SO FUCK IT (WELL, THIS COULD BE USEFUL… EXCEPT FOR FUCKING STRIDER SINCE HE HAS THE CLOTH STITCHING POWER!)
  9. WHAT EVEN IS THIS? : 1 (SERIOUSLY, WHY THE FUCK WOULD WE NEED SOME SORT OF DEAD CREATURE LIKE THING BOTTLED UP FILLED WITH LIQUID; I THINK I’M GOING TO FUCKING THROW UP. UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGG!)



        .

        .

        .

    SOME NUMBER. WHO THE FUCK CARES! WE’RE NOT EVEN CARRY ALL THIS SHIT ANYWAYS SO WHAT THE HELL IS THE POINT OF      CATALOGUING ALL OF THIS SHIT. FUCK IT.

           

            Karkat throws his pen in a fit of rage. Goddamn, why the hell would they even buy all this shit! It makes no sense! Oh yeah, it’s because all of them are fucking idiots, they can’t even keep their grubby hands off a single product! The others have long since left him to his own devices and went to sleep. Sighing, he decides that maybe that is exactly what he needs as well. Rubbing his eyes irritably, he walks to his room and does just that after of course changing out of his clothes. Karkat spots something new on his dresser. Going over to get a better view of said object, he notices that they are indeed blue pajamas with a red crab print all over it. Against his better judgment, he dons the pajamas and notices they are surprisingly comfortable. Karkat crawls into bed and falls asleep as soon as the covers are pulled tightly around him.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not having a very plot-heavy chapter.  
> And yes I'm late, sorry about that, too.  
> Is it bad that I feel like going no where and yet I write so much...?  
> Yes, yes it is very bad. I should pick up the pace :|
> 
> Notes:
> 
> -About a recent question, Karkat's gem gives him the ability to blend in with all the other humans and therefore, people can't identify Karkat since every person sees a different human form of Karkat (thanks to Terezi's mind powers). I also didn't want to ruin anyone's head canon of Karkat's human form. So the description before is just Dave's interpretation of Karkat. The only thing that the human form keeps no matter what is the red eyes (and maybe his shortness but who knows).
> 
> -The meat is Plan A and Dave's hunting skills are Plan B.
> 
> -By the way the meat is dried during the time Karkat is listing stuff. No he did not do it for a few days. Rose's aspect is light and light can produce heat. She simply changed the wavelength of the light so that it would become sunlight. Next she filters her powers, sort of like Earth's atmosphere, to simulate the distance the sun would be compared to their relative location and then dries the meat like this. Dave then works his powers by speeding up the time it would usually take for the meat to dry. The simple explanation: magic and the author's own craziness! I don't even know what I'm talking about here, but I hope that this at least sounds somewhat convincing. This is also why Rose and Dave are already in bed. 
> 
> -I also hope that when Karkat starts talking about social issues that he doesn't sound like another Kankri. I was hoping to convey Karkat as caring and outraged at the same time.
> 
> -Also thanks for all the kind comments and kudos, they really make my day! Though I can't give each of you a proper hug, here have this sideways heart: <3


	9. Karkat: Be surprised

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's so late right now. I'm going to post up two chapters right now. I'm too lazy to write a good chapter summary. Sorry. :P  
> Also sorry for the shortness.

 

                       This morning was the fucking worst morning Karkat ever woke up to, other than the day he was exiled into the human border. At first, it was comforting, no dreams for once even though he had tossed and turned while he slept.  But as soon as he left the room, any shred of dignity that was left was destroyed. Not only had Karkat forgotten what he was wearing, but he had tripped on his way to the kitchen right in front of everyone. Terezi is still clutching her stomach because of how hard she laughed at him. Rose and Kanaya are polite enough to keep their giggles to themselves. Dave, on the other hand, is enjoying himself reliving Karkat’s most embarrassing moment again and again. The best thing about this morning is that they are finally out of town and walking towards the forest.

            After hours of silence, Dave decides to break the silence with Karkat’s most humiliating and recent memory.

 

“Karkitten, I didn’t figure you would be the kind to wear cute little crab pjs. Well, actually I take that back. I should have figured you’d be like those candies with a hard chocolate shell and a gooey cherry center.”

 

“If that were true, my tongue would be attached to Karkles twenty-four seven.” Terezi flies over to Karkat, before Karkat can protest, she licks his cheek. The cheek that was licked heats up with his mutant color. Karkat picks up one of Terezi’s wing; much like a mother pinches her child’s ear, and pries her away from his face.

 

“Goddamn, Pyrope, keep your paws to yourself.”

 

“That’s right, Rez. Only I get to annoy the shit out of the little fireball.” Karkat flips the birdie at Dave.

 

“Wow asshole, shut the fuck up! What are you like fifty sweeps, while I’m a mere nine sweeps? Isn’t it like some kind of human violation to wax black for me, when you’re this much of a creeper?”

 

“Babe, sorry, we’re just friends. This hot bod is made for only hot babes and dudes only. Last time, I checked, a small little firecracker of a troll with a gooey center is not really hot. Rez, here, is a different story completely. See despite that angular bod, she is hot as fuck.” He whistles. “She’s like freshly baked cake hot. Burns to the touch, too.” Terezi punches Dave on the shoulder playfully.

 

“Shut up, Dave, before I puke from all these compliments.” She flutters hiding her blush.

 

“Yes, Dave, I would very much prefer you to ‘zip those lips’, since it is very rude to not include us ladies in the category of hot.” Kanaya’s eyebrows wiggle suggestively and Rose beams at Kanaya. It is sickeningly sweet.

 

“Oh, sorry, ladies, I almost forgot such beautiful diamonds shining in the darkest corner overshadowed by this large, grumpy coal in the corner who enjoys wearing blue pajamas for little kids.” Poking carelessly at Karkat, Dave lifts the corners of his own mouth ever so slightly. Karkat stops mid step, spinning around to face Dave.

 

“Fuck you, bulge sucker.” Karkat says this with as much venom as he can manage. “At least I’m not some disillusioned pathetic shitsponge who constantly needs to compliment themselves in order to feel appreciative of themselves. Unlike you, I’m honest about my hateful and ugly existence. I will not lie in front of everyone here and say that I’m attractive as hell because I certainly am not anywhere close to the perfection that is troll Adonis. It’s one of the few things I can add to my ‘Traits I Like about Myself’. Trust me that list is so short, all the traits can be counted on one hand.” With that, Karkat swiftly turns back around and walks faster in front of everyone. The atmosphere is tense for a while, until Dave appears next to Karkat.

 

“Look, Kitten, come on. I was just joking.” Karkat ignores Dave for the most part and walks faster ahead. “Stop being such a jealous little girl!”

 

“Dave, please refrain from using us as derogatory terms when having marital fights with your troll.” Rose scolds. Dave sheepishly shrugs and silently promises her that it will not happen again.

 

“What the fuck, Lalonde? Marital fights? Seriously, you think that this shithead and I will get along long enough to initiate a fucking matespritship and get fucking human married. Maybe in someone’s sick dreams, but not mine. My blood pusher will never find any ounce of Strider as viable Matesprit material. In fact, we will never have a platonic relationship in the first place!” Karkat huffs loudly and returns his focus to walking (or jogging) faster than Dave. Dave runs backward so he can face Karkat when he talks, but Karkat turns away from him and veers off to the right. Terezi flutters close to Karkat.

 

“Karkles, stop acting so jealous, you know that will give you wrinkles, right? And if it’s about the attractive thing, then you’re plenty adorable.” He turns his glare to Terezi.

 

“How would you know? You’re blind! And fuck you for thinking that what I’m feeling is even remotely related to the human emotion known as jealousy.”

 

“Rude! I may not being using my eyes, but I still have a nose and ears! Those are my ‘eyes’ so I ‘see’ you just fine.” She folds her arms and lands on Karkat’s shoulder.

 

“I know for a fact I’m a hideous creature who’s lucky enough to walk around you humans without a paper bag to hide my fucking ugly face.”

 

          In the time, that it took Karkat and Terezi to talk, Kanaya and Rose have caught up to them. Kanaya hears what Karkat says and shakes her head hesitantly as if considering for a second what Karkat said is true, but she quickly gets a handle on her feelings.

 

“Alright, I’m not going to agree that you’re ugly, but what the hell is the problem then, Mr. Prissy Pants?”

 

          Karkat tries gathering his thoughts before answering her. Why the fuck is he this angry? Maybe, just a small tiny bit of him, felt that it is excessive of Dave to constantly point out his most hated aspects of himself. He doesn’t need a human to continually spit on the fact of his truly abhorrent existence. Karkat doesn’t understand why sometimes the human’s words would affect him this way. Dave, Kanaya, and the rest of humanity are making it so fucking obvious he doesn’t belong. Kanaya is getting better, but it means nothing because sometimes she elapses into her hate when Karkat’s around. Dave is always making deprecatory jokes about everything related to him. But why should he care what they say?

         They’ve only been together for a week at tops, but Karkat doesn’t understand this foreign feeling rising inside of him. When Karkat is around his group, he feels this strange warmth spreading throughout him, caressing him much like a true moirail would when the other is feeling down. Like maybe, just maybe, they see him as an equal and respect him as such... and then Dave says shit like that (even if he might not mean it) and Kanaya, though not quite as obvious, agrees with him. Even Rose has her moments, she never says anything but those eyes linger when she thinks he’s not looking like he’s some kind of exotic, but dangerous animal; it’s only for a moment before it returns to her normal, polite self. Only Terezi seems to truly accept him because she herself is different. He can’t blame the humans; they were raised with the hate for trolls.   

          Suddenly, Rose yells at them to duck disrupting his thoughts. What the fuck does she mean by talking about strange chirp-beasts? Dave pushes Karkat down and before Karkat can truly comprehend what’s going on, he hears something whistling past his head which ends up embedded in the tree behind them. Everyone scrambles to a hiding spot as more volleys of arrows are shot at them. The hell is going on? Who is shooting at them? Karkat turns to the right and sees that Rose, Kanaya, and Terezi are moving further into the forest. Much to Karkat’s disdain, the path towards the girls involves running through a large clearing which would make them sitting targets!

          Karkat daringly takes a look at their assailants. They perch upon a large hill, where the group was supposed to go through in order to get to the mountain. A man in a green suit stood in the middle of a group imps. There were some of all sizes tall, short, big, and skinny. They all wore beautifully colored hats and clothes, and they all carried bows and arrows. Most strange of all was the figure that Karkat sees. It can’t be, not this far in human territory! It’s a troll, a high blood, judging by the purple sign on his shirt. High bloods are rarely punished if ever, especially a troll of that caste. So it is very likely that the high blood giant came of his (or at least Karkat assumes it is a he) own volition. Why would a high blood travel this far into human territory?

          For a single, tense moment the troll connects eyes with Karkat. The sticky, mess of hair (if it can even be called hair), his long horns, and strange face-paint makes his grin all the more intimidating. Cringing, Karkat pulls his gaze away and focuses on hiding. Karkat secretly hopes to not have to fight with such a brute.

         Dave grabs Karkat’s hand and wasting no time starts to take off in the direction opposite of the females. The arrows continue to come through the slits between trees. For imps, their precision is actually pretty commendable. When Karkat looks through the slits again, the troll and the green-suited man have disappeared. Oh shit. Just as quickly as his brain registers, the said troll is in front of them. Karkat and Dave draw their weapons, but don’t stop moving.

          The troll nonchalantly twirls his clubs covered in different shades of color, with a sickening thought; Karkat realizes its troll blood. Fear grips Karkat’s digestive sac with its sharpest talons. This troll has been in battles before and most dangerous of all is that the troll looked like he enjoyed each and every one of those battles.

 

“HEY MOTHERFUCKERS, I’m sorry, BUT THIS IS THE END OF THE LINE.” His accented voice alternates between booming and quiet. Twirling his clubs faster, the troll smiles delightfully, as though he will enjoy ripping their organs from their body. Without any warning, the troll rushes forward.

 

“FUCK!”

 

          Karkat blocks the first blow, even though his arms vibrate from the power of the blow. Being this close to the troll, Karkat notices that this troll reeks of sopor. Fuck, he feels his eyes drooping. Damn, not now! Fuck humans and their lack of sopor! Dave is suddenly above the both of them and readying his sword to attack the purple troll. The purple troll simple raises his other club to block Dave’s aerial attack.

 

“Not bad.” Dave smirks as if delighted by a challenge.

 

“Same to you, FUCKER,” The troll growls, but his accent is so strong that the human barely understands him.

 

          Karkat uses this moment to push against the club and uses his remaining strength to roll to the left. The troll loses balance, but easily steadies himself and Dave jumps back away from the dangerous clubs. Shaking the remaining sleep from his tired body, Karkat focuses his gaze on the purple troll. Can’t get too close to the troll, or Karkat will fall asleep to the lull of the sopor. Why the fuck did he chose close range weapons? Past him is such a fucking idiot!

          The troll sensing Karkat’s weakness rushes at him and Karkat backs up. Taking a defensive stance, Karkat looks for a way to slice the troll with his sickles. He finds his opportunity, when Dave attacks the troll’s back and the troll pries his attention off of Karkat for but a second. Purple blood splashes unto Karkat’s sickles as he feels his blades slice through meat. The wound stretched from the troll’s shoulder down to his abdomen.

          For that brief moment, it seems like time stops. The purple troll’s eyes shrink in shock as those eyes fall to Karkat’s red ones. A monster-like scream fills the air and the troll hits Dave in the stomach with his club. It seems like the purple troll has gotten faster when the clubs clashes into the steel. Oh fuck no... Trying unsuccessfully to block against the fast clashes, Karkat searches for any weakness, but it’s getting harder to think with the sopor and his tired body occupying his mind.

            Seeing Karkat’s growing exhaustion, the troll swings both of his clubs at his abdomen. Karkat embeds one of his sickles into the troll’s shoulder, before he is sent flying. He crashes painfully into the ground and the air is knocked out of his tiny body. Karkat is almost one-hundred percent sure that when he heard a crack when he connected with the floor. Groaning, he wraps one arm around the area. As the troll approaches him and Karkat searches desperately for the other sickle that went flying. The sole of the troll’s sneaker comes down against Karkat’s hand. A shrill scream fills the air followed by whimpers.

           

“MOTHERFUCKER, how dare you lay a hand ON YOUR MESSIAH?” The giant screams in Alternian. His eyes flashes with anger, however a lackadaisical grin fills the lower half of his face creating a strange mix of anger and calmness.

 

            The troll reaches up and takes ahold of the handle of the sickle. The sickle slides out of the wound with a sickening pop. Purple blood drips from the tip of the sickle and onto Karkat’s face. Fear fills Karkat’s face as the blood falls. Suddenly, Karkat hears the troll’s voice booming in his head screaming words of his failure and weakness. Slowly luring out Karkat’s hatred and breaking his soul. LEAVE YOURSELF, BROTHER AND JOIN THE DARK CARNIVAL. FALL TO YOUR MESSIAH’S POISON! The troll picks up Karkat by his hair; Karkat hung limply. The sopor is overwhelming and Karkat can’t help, but be comforted by the intoxicating smell. Even the pain is being dulled by the sopor’s remedial properties.

            The purple troll raises the sickle, ready to make a clean slice. Closing his eyes, Karkat waits for the pain. Instead Karkat is thrown once again on the forest floor. Karkat’s eyes fly open and he sees Dave and the purple troll engaged in an intense battle.

 

                                                            *********

            Dave counters another attack from the purple-blooded troll. Dave underestimated this troll, big time. The troll had speed and power, as well as endurance. For fuck’s sake, he had a gaping chest wound and shoulder wound, but runs around like those wounds were flesh wounds and wouldn’t leave permanent scars. Flash-stepping to the side, Dave smashes his blade once again into the troll’s stolen sickle. Out of the corner of Dave’s eyes, Dave sees Karkat crawling towards his other sickle.

            Dave grits his teeth; he has to finish this battle fast, Dave doesn’t know how much longer Karkat can last. The troll smiles deliriously.

 

“DON’T take your EYES off ME, BROTHER, or you’re going to REGRET it.” With one swift motion, the sickle slices through soft clothes and flesh.

 

“Fuck!” Dave jumps away from the troll, while holding his wound. Warmth graces his hands as he feels the coppery liquid seep out of his body.

 

            As a last resort, Dave raises his sword up and readies a charge at the troll. It’s the knight’s job to save his best card for last right? Nonchalantly, the troll laughs and motions for Dave to come at him. A moment of tension passes the two, before Dave charges. Concentrating on the flow of time, Dave grabs the most opportune moment he wants and stops time. Everything around Dave stops, from the motion of the breeze to the motion of the troll, nothing moved as though all living creatures within the vicinity had suddenly fallen into a coma. Dave takes these few moments to stab his sword through the troll’s chest.

            As though an alarm rang through the forest waking it up, everything resumes motion again and the troll howls in agony. Its pupils dilate before shrinking; breathe shaking and quivering. Wildly, quite like a chicken running without its head, the troll swings its mismatched weapons. The previous inflicted wounds haunt Dave and impair his reaction. Hitting their intended targets, Dave is sent skittering across the forest floor. Before the troll can even comprehend what happened, the giant collapses into a heap on the dirt.

            Relaxing slightly, Dave catalogues his wounds and found that the sickle wound was much worse than he originally thought. The other wounds though bad seem to be fine. Clutching his various wounds, Dave grimaces as he tries to sit up, but fails miserably. Lying down is fine, too. A rustling sound is heard and Dave turns his head slightly to see a familiar face.

 

                                                            **********

 

            Karkat takes a breath shakily as he reaches Dave. The human is a mess; taunting red and purple blood mixing in his platinum hair while his shades lay precariously on his face. Relief hits Karkat, when the human takes a few shaky breaths. Reaching into the human’s backpack, Karkat quickly grabbed bandages and he shakily binds the wound, hoping that that is enough to stop the bleeding. Despite his own pain, Karkat quickly retrieves his sickles, but refuses to take Dave’s sword. The way it is embedded in the other troll left Karkat with a disgusting taste. The face of the troll is pulled back in a menacing grin, as though even death can’t stop the troll from his rampage. There is no way he is pulling that sword out and watching the purple blood leak from the beaten up form. Furthermore, the sopor stench is still overwhelmingly potent; now is not the time for a well-deserved nap.

            Karkat has no time to think as he hears the other attackers stomping through the woods. Strangely though, it sounds less than the original number of imps. Scrambling towards the human, Karkat helps Dave to his feet. Seeing the misplaced glasses, Karkat gives a sigh before fixing it. Leaning against the troll, Karkat and Dave try to lose the imps.

          Karkat thanks whoever the hell was so gracious to make the sun set. In the cover of darkness, Karkat knows that he will be able to hide himself and Dave much better. Eerily, however, the trees seem to make shapes surprisingly similar to half-hoof beasts, half-human like creatures. Even the breeze that blows through the leaves sound strangely like that of a hoof beast’s whinny. Karkat shakes his head free of these abnormalities and focuses on losing the quickly approaching imps.

 

“Hey, Kitten...” So quiet, it was almost a whisper. Karkat made an affirmative sound, showing he heard the human. “Remember that favor you owe me...” His breath came harsh against Karkat’s ear.

 

“Strider, now is not the time for that, we are trying to escape from certain death!” Karkat hisses back, concern emitting from his very being.

 

“Just... hear me out, Kar.” Dave hums back sounding tired and a bit drunk. With each passing second, it seems the human was relying more and more upon the strength of the troll to walk. “I don’t think I’m going to make it... so I want you to not bury me alive...” Dave grimaces with each word that leaves his mouth.

 

            The troll turns his head to the human, but does not stop the constant motion of his feet against the earth.  “Strider, don’t pull this theatrical shit on me! You’re fucking immortal, how are you going to quote on quote die if you are fucking immune to death!”

 

“No, that’s a misconception about immortality, I didn’t think...” Dave takes a shaky breath before continuing. “...you of all people would have such a closed mind.”

 

“Immortality means you’re not mortal! That means that you are not plagued by mortal qualities such as death!” Karkat keeps his tone light.

 

Laughing dryly, Dave doesn’t answer him and gives up walking completely. The poor troll immediately feels the effects of having to not only drag his own weight around, but also that of a tall, lanky human. Grunting, Karkat grows more worried for the pink flesh container with each passing moment.

 

“Come on, Strider! We’ve come too far for you to literally die on us right now... Fuck.” The human seems to have fallen unconscious.

 

            Luckily for the duo, the imps have horrible vision and even worse senses of direction so all imps have now lost their trail. At least that’s what Karkat hopes. Using the moonlight as a guide, Karkat reaches a little clearing followed by a wall of rock. Within the seemingly impenetrable stone wall, is a small opening, big enough for the duo to enter (one at a time), but small enough for Karkat to block with another movable object. Wrapping both of the human’s limp arms around his neck and using the extra clothing found within the human’s backpack (or sylladex as the troll likes to call it) to make a sort of a cord to bind the human and the troll together so the human doesn’t fall off, Karkat begins to climb the mountain side.

            A once clean sweater is now covered in blood, dirt, and sweat. For Karkat, he might as well wear his old, worn sweater. Karkat focuses his thoughts on more important issues such as not falling to his death as he makes his way to the hole in the mountain (however thoughts such as these do help to relieve some of the stress the troll maybe experiencing).

          When he finally reaches the top, Karkat collapses with his face first into the dirt. Breathing hard, Karkat struggles against exhaustion and previous injuries. A flash of light in the distance reminds Karkat that he needs to move and protect Dave. He can’t disappoint the rest of the team by bringing back the corpse of a friend... Friends… Is that what it feels like to pity someone in a platonic sense? Eventually, Karkat crawls into the cave. Untying the knot that attaches Karkat to Dave, Karkat gently places Dave on the cave floor and listens for a pulse. Fuck. Quickly, Karkat tries to resuscitate the cold human. When that had no use, he frantically pounded the human’s chest hoping by some miracle that the shockwaves would be enough to restart the human’s heart. This is his fault! It was his sickle that made the fatal blow; he should have kept a tighter hold on his weapon! Did Dave lie to him, when the human said he was immortal? Oh God, is he truly gone now? A million thoughts careen through Karkat’s brain.

            In Karkat’s hysteria, he did not notice the figure looming in the darkness, despite the figure’s contrasting colors with the cave. Before Karkat can react, he feels himself slam into the cave wall by some invisible hand and then dropped painfully onto the cave floor. All the air in his tiny body is knocked out upon each impact (again) and he struggles to breathe correctly. Cursing loudly, Karkat tries to stand, but another large, invisible hand slams into him. Blue shoes come into view before everything fades to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope the fight scenes were okay!


	10. Everyone: Do a Bunch of Stuff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet two new characters. Also let's see how the rest of the gang is doing.

          Terezi glances back and slaps her forehead; they forgot to check if the boys were following along. Typical... However, she wasn’t given much time to dwell, as she is pulled back into the raging battle. Kanaya whips her chainsaw hacking anything in her way and Rose blasts the rest of the remaining unsuspecting imps with hot flames of bright light. Terezi manipulates the imps and delays their reactions to make them easier targets.

            At an alarmingly, but predictably fast rate, the imps are dropping like flies. Terezi flutters nervously; why are they attacking them? The imps are usually such dumb, but polite creatures and don’t attack unless provoked. Sometimes, Terezi wishes she has her seer powers on full time, but then again what fun is there if you see everything that’ll happen? There will be no more surprises in her life and even the daily punishment dealt to misbehaving criminals will not give her the needed thrill.

Spotting the head of this strange posse, the green-suited man, the dragon fairy grins maniacally. Spreading her wings, she takes a deep breath before darting towards said man. Flying in close, but not close enough to be spotted, Terezi lifts her dragon-headed cane and points it at the man.   

            The cane glows a bright teal; she makes a semicircle with a line at the bottom and concentrates her power to the tip of the cane. A small giggle escapes the girl as she focuses the invisible (to everyone but her) beam towards the man. Nothing like a good investigation of the mind, let’s see why this man is trying to kill our team, she mused. Before she can do anything though, a hand smashes against her causing her to tumble through the air and then skidding to a halt in a mess of limbs.

            Getting up cautiously, the dragon fairy sniffs for the culprit. She bares her teeth at the imp before releasing her energy against the poor unknowing imp. Clutching its head in pain, it falls the ground and faints. Breathing unevenly, Terezi scolds herself for losing control like that.

            Suddenly, she feels a drip fall into her hair. The drip slides down the tip of her nose and onto the tip of her tongue. Grape fills her taste buds. Taking a small sniff, she realizes that the being is emitting a lot of grape aura.

 

“SISTER, it’s not good to USE those PAN-NUMBING powers of YOURS.”

 

            His grubby hands wrap around Terezi’s body and she bites his thumb. Laughing, he throws her against the tree. A scream pierces the air before she feels herself falling into a deep sleep.  

 

                                                            **********

 

            As the sun is setting, two girls are surrounded by imps. Within the last few hours of fighting, the imps have dramatically increased and their attention is directed towards the pair. Breathing hard, Rose points her wands at the gathering imps.

 

“Rose, I believe now would be a good time to make our departure.”

 

“No, Kanaya, we should stay and fight until we are the last one standing.”

 

“Please, tell me that is one of your sarcastic quips.” Rose bumps Kanaya’s shoulder lightly.

 

“You know me well enough to decipher that yourself.” Smiling wryly, she points her wand towards the sky.

 

“Rose, what of the other members, will they be fine?” Rose frowns at the creases in her lover’s brow.

 

“Kanaya, do not worry, we will all meet up again. For now, we need to focus on our own survival. Also, close your eyes.” A flash of bright light flies into the air like a flare and blinds all surrounding foes.

 

**A few minutes in the past, but not many…**

 

            A girl walks right beside a large centaur. Her cat ears wiggle while her tail swishes as she walks behind her best friend. On her shoulder is the mark of heart while on the centaur is the mark of void. Supposedly polar opposites, but in truth they are closer than best friends.

 The girl looks up at the boy’s broken sunglasses and frowns. She doesn’t want anything like that to ever happen again. Maybe it’s better to end the hunt early today.

 

“Equius!” The half-horse, half-man turns his head around.

 

“What is it, Nepeta?” Nepeta huffs loudly.

 

“I’m pawsitively expawsted! I pawt that we purr going home afpur one last catch!” The centaur halts in his place.

 

“Nepeta, cease the complaining at once. If you are really tired, then you may ride my exquisite back. Also, please do well as to stop those ridiculous puns.”

 

            The girl mumbles quietly, but complies. Carefully, she climbs onto his back and stretches carefully before curling up against his strong back. The clop sounds of his hooves slowly start to lull her to sleep.

            A flash in the dark sky wakes her and she falls. Landing perfectly, she shakes herself, stretches, and stands up.

 

“What was that, Equius?”

 

“I have no idea, but I believe it is best to make our way to our humble abode before it brings trouble.”

 

“No, we should check it out!” Her eyes shimmer lightly, dangerously; excitement slowly bubbling inside of her tiny body.

 

“I said no.”

 

 

“Come on, Equius!”

 

“No.” Stomping her foot in frustration, she glares at her best friend.

  
“Fine! If you won’t go with me, I’ll just go by myself!” She huffs and then starts toward the light. 

         The muscular centaur sighs and walks behind her. He did vow to protect her after all and going back on a vow would not be the royal thing to do. So they walk towards the unknown, blissfully unaware of the adventure that awaits them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nepeta and Equius = dream come true??  
> I have no idea and I have no justification. I just imagined them this way... Stop thinking weird things brain!  
> Also congratulations to me for the shortest chapter yet. I hope these chapters aren't too disappointing especially after such a long wait.


	11. Karkat and Dave meet John

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this is late. I've been busy with school and other stuff so I haven't really been writing. Also, I may have gotten writer's block.... a lot.... But at least I'm not dead! :D  
> On a more serious note, I don't know when the next update will be. I don't really know if I will ever finish this story, but gosh darn it I will try. I'm sorry for updating so late in the game and for not really editing this thing. But whatever, I just want to post something up. So I hope you will enjoy this and thank you for dealing with me and my shenanigans. :p

    Slowly, Dave opens his eyes before shutting them to block out the all too bright sunlight. Where the hell are his glasses? Moving his hand to block out the sun, he carefully sits up. Looking around, he seems to be in some sort of cave system. Behind him, is the cave’s entrance. He hears shuffling nearby and tenses.

 

“Hey, you’re finally awake! I’m glad.” Carefully, Dave peeks at the owner of such an innocent, boyish voice and relaxes. It doesn’t seem like he was the monstrous purple troll from before.

 

    A boy has his back to Dave, busily attending a fire and roasting some rather delicious smelling meat. The boy has dark, seemingly soft and fluffy hair, and dons blue clothing (he must have a blue-fetish, or something). Attached to his blue T-shirt is a long sock-like hood. It looks more like a hindrance than anything.

    The blue boy grabs the succulent piece of meat off of the stick and slides it onto a wooden bowl. He then sits down next to Dave and offers him the mouth-watering dish. Dave takes it with pleasure. Dave notices that the boy’s eyes are a beautiful baby blue like the rest of him and are protected by dorky looking glasses.

 

“So to whom do I owe my gratitude?” The boy giggles sweetly.

 

“John. John Egbert. May I ask who you are?” The boy holds out his hand waiting for Dave to shake it.

 

“The one and only knight of Skaia, Dave Strider, pleased to make your acquaintance.” Dave takes the outstretched hand and kisses it. The boy screams jerking it back with such a force that Dave nearly dropped breakfast (being the cool guy that he is, he didn’t). The poor boy’s cheek light up with the predictable red color and he looks away from Dave.

 

“Sorry, but... um... I’m not... you know... into that stuff.” The boy fidgets with his shirt and his hair.

 

    ‘Nice going, Dave, you made things awkward, now. That’s not cool.’ Dave internally scolds himself. ‘I should probably change the subject…Wait, where’s Karkat?’ He looks around to see the red-blooded troll nowhere to be found.

 

“Have you seen my companion: a short, angry, loud, and uncouth...” The boy shakes his head and interrupts.

 

“There’s no one here that remotely fits that description.”

 

“...troll?” Pure shock is plastered on the boy’s face and the boy stumbles backward.

 

“But... but?”

 

“Is he alright?” Dave suddenly stands up. Wincing, Dave sits back down. That was not smart.

 

“That troll hurt you! How can you be friends with such a monster?” Dave grabs the shaking boy's shoulders. Dave realizes the sickle wound must look like it was done by Karkat's hand.

 

"Where is he?"

 

"I... I left him in another room in the cave..."

 

"Where?" John points to a small opening across from them.

 

    Hugging his side, Dave uses the wall as support and walks toward the opening; dread fills his whole body. What if that Egbert kid killed Karkat? What would Dave do? Dave can’t very well go murder John, can he? He’ll cross that bridge when he comes to it and then once across he’ll burn it down.

    The room is dark, too dark for Dave even without his shades to truly see clearly. The only light came from the sliver of opening and even then Dave’s body was enough to block most of the light. Taking the sunglasses from his face, Dave hooks them onto his shirt and moves to the side, allowing the light to shine into the small room. The tip of worn sneakers catches his attention and he nears the unmoving figure. Dave’s heart constricts painfully; oh god no, please don’t let this be another death... Relief floods the knight of time when the sound of Karkat’s breathing assures him that Karkat is still very much alive. Dragging the troll by his feet, Dave brings him out of the little room and back into the larger cave.

    Dave’s eyes adjust to the new lighting arrangement and when he can see clearly, he notices that the troll is bound and gagged. No wonder he made no noise despite being dragged through rubble; well that and he seems to be in a deep sleep at the moment. Leaning the unconscious troll against his shoulder, Dave begins to untie the knot. The rope slides easily off similar to a worker who had done a particularly difficult job and coming home to lounge on the sofa, relaxing his tense muscles. ‘Dave, get back to helping Karkat,’ he reminds himself. Dave lays the troll gently back done and takes out the white cloth that was stuffed precariously into Karkat’s mouth.

    Behind Dave, John seems to have finally gathered his guts to do something. Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees the boy in blue lifting up something large. His hands automatically go to the hilt of his sword, only to find his hand grasping air. As John brings the hammer down, Dave lifts both hands and pauses time. Fuck... Fuck... Got to work fast or John will do some damage to both him and Karkat. Throwing Karkat like a bag of potatoes over his shoulder, Dave jumps to the side.

    Time unfreezes and John resumes his motion. As if the rock was nothing more than glass, the surface shatters and a web-like crack spreads like wildfire.

 

“Whoa, whoa, bro, can’t we talk this out or something? I mean you seem like one of those innocent little butterflies who would never hurt anything so maybe we can you know talk things out, man to man.” John’s gaze falls onto the little mark below Dave’s eye.

 

“You’re... You’re... an elemental?” Dave nods. The hammer lands with a thud and John cautiously walks up to Dave. He squints at the tattoo and seems deep in thought for a moment. Dave feels his heart quicken. Up close, John’s girlish face, long eyelashes, and ever blue eyes behind square-framed glasses hypnotize Dave. John lets out a deep sigh. “Thank goodness. I thought I was going to have to knock you unconscious and then run.” He smiles innocently.

 

“Egbert, I’m pretty sure anyone on the receiving end of that blow would be flatter than a pancake, in fact they might even be non-existent thanks to that hulk-smash.” John rubs his neck sheepishly and grins. Frowning, he points at the troll who is still slung across Dave’s shoulder.

 

“Is that one, too?” Dave grimaces at the way John said ‘that’.

 

“Yes, he is an elemental, too.” John looks uncomfortable with that realization so he walks back to attending to breakfast at least it’s breakfast for him.

 

    Dave relaxes and lays Karkat down on the floor. At this moment, Karkat’s eyes open blearily and focuses upon Dave’s face. Smiling lopsidedly, Karkat touches Dave’s face. Dave’s heart seems to skip a beat and an unwanted memory floods Dave’s brain.

 

“Hey, Kitten, you okay?”

 

“Daev... Davy... Dave...” Karkat slurs his words and hiccups. “You’re okay. I’m ha...happy.” He frowns. “I thought that... you died... No more deaths.”

 

“Egbert, did you give him a sopor pill?”

 

“Hey, what I was supposed to do, okay? I didn’t know if the troll was hostile and if I killed the troll it’s friend might find and hurt me. You know those things and how they’d kill if they find one of their own dead. Besides, dad always packed extra.”

 

“Oh no...” Karkat hugs Dave tightly.

 

“Don’t leave, Daev!!”

 

“I won’t, Kar, but you have to let go of me. I think I should probably check your wounds. Since you’re in this state, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t feel anything, even if you were bleeding to death.” Karkat obeys sloppily and lets go of Dave. His cheeks are a tinted pink no doubt from the sopor.

 

    Quickly and systematically, Dave checks and bandages all of Karkat’s wounds. Luckily, it seems none of the wounds were too bad. Smiling strangely and staring at the ceiling as if the most interesting thing is attached straight above his head, Karkat giggles.

 

“Daev, why can’t I feel anything? I feel so ex-exhil... happy... It’s so fucking strange.”

 

“Don’t worry about it. Karcrab, it’s just a feeling that non-grumpy trolls normally feel. About the numb thing, you’re better off not feeling anything, what with all these random bruises and cuts.”

 

Karkat turns to Dave, but seems to stare right past him. Karkat’s shaking hands reach up to grasp something and frowns when he couldn’t seem to grasp it.

 

“I… I wonder why…?”

 

“What is it, Kark?”

 

“I can’t to touch his wings…”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

Karkat seems frustrated with Dave’s answer. “The pointed-eye wear one…”

 

    Dave froze, there was only one person in his life that had point-y shades. Dave grabs Karkat’s shoulders tightly. “Where…” Dave is so quiet, Karkat almost couldn’t hear the question. “Where is he?” Even in Karkat’s state of carefreeness, Karkat feels threatened by Dave and shrinks away from him.

 

“It hurts… Daevy, stop, stop!”

 

Ignoring Karkat’s pleading, Dave grips his shoulders even tighter. In retaliation, Karkat sinks his fangs into Dave’s shoulders. After a moment of shock and a grunt of pain, Dave releases Karkat and tries to pry the frightened and intoxicated troll off.

    A whole lot of coaxing and “I don’t  give a fuck a troll is biting my shoulder off even if it hurts” attitude later, Karkat is sitting in a corner, clearly in a hissy fit. John is carefully bandaging Dave’s wound while sitting in front of the fire. A tiny sigh escapes the clearly exhausted John.

 

“Why would you mess with an intoxicated troll?” Dave doesn’t answer John’s question, instead he flicks John on the forehead.

 

“May I remind you, John, that you are the one who intoxicated him?” John rubs his forehead and frowns.

 

“Hey, you would do the same if the roles were switched.”

 

“Maybe… Maybe not. Who knows what I would do?” Dave smirks at John. “Regardless, we should probably feed him.” Holding his shoulder wound, Dave grabs a piece of meat with his free hand and slowly makes his way towards Karkat. Karkat turns his head and glares at the towering swordsman, but gratefully accepts the meat. Dave limps back to where John is sitting and sits near the fire. John rolls his eyes.

 

“You are one crazy shade wearing, slightly cool, but mostly weird swords handler. I’ve never seen a human get along with a troll and it’s still a surprise to me how you can put up with that guy when he took a bite of your flesh like… some kind of wild animal.”

 

“Well, it does hurt like fuck, but it’s only a flesh wound.” The blond’s signature smirks fails to impress the blue-eyed boy.

 

“Flesh wound, my ass. His teeth sank so deeply into your skin that I’ll be surprised you don’t get a scar from this. If he wasn’t a elemental, he wouldn’t even be allowed in this cave!” The corners of Dave’s mouth turn ever so slightly down, the change was so miniscule that no ordinary human would take notice to it.

 

“What do you have against trolls anyway?”

 

“Why do you want to know?” Dave shrugs.

 

“Well, I want whatever semblance of a group we have to at least be able to cooperate together. Besides might as well try to get to know each other in the mean time so I can decide whether to put you on my friend, enemy, or date list.” Once again, the blue eyes are rolling, but a small turning up of his lips tells Dave everything.

  
“Alright. Alright. Any more of this mushy-rainbow stuff and I might die of too much mush. You better have your ears ready because they will have to work in overtime.” So John begins his story and Dave listens. Somewhere along the story, Karkat seems to have cuddled up against Dave’s side and fell asleep. Neither human noticed, Dave was too immersed in the story and John was too immersed in telling it.

**Author's Note:**

> Cliffhanger! Too many pronouns, I hope it wasn't too confusing. Oh pretty much all the beta trolls and beta humans will be in here, eventually. Also this fic will be shippy, be warned.


End file.
